In the mind of Alice
by PrinceKat
Summary: Alice is the smallest Celestrian in the Observatory, but is always smiling. What goes on inside her mind is unknown to others... and then she begins her journey with her three new companions. Can they help her?
1. Chapter 1

_**For how long have I existed?**_

_**Why am I still here?**_

_**I'm not even needed. . .**_

* * *

Two Celestrians hover over the nice little village of Angel Falls, where children run around giggling over things only they could know.

The taller Celestrian, who is also bald as hell, looks at his smaller companion, who has shoulder-length light blonde hair, a smile that never leaves her face, and black wings.

"You've done well, Alice. Even though I had my doubts about you taking over my post, I must admit that you've been doing a remarkable job. You've bloomed ever since Apus Major advised you to be a guardian, and you have earned your title of Guardian of Angel Falls."

Alice's smile grows a bit bigger,"Thanks, Aquila."

Aquila quickly looks away, and sees off in the distance that two of the village's inhabitants walking towards the village. Alice turns to see what he's looking at, and notices that it's the faithful Erinn and her grandfather, on their way back from their walk. She also sees that two slimes and a cruelcumber pop out of a bush, and hide behind a rock, readying a sneak attack on the two.

"Those monsters must not touch members of your flock, Alice. Come, let's go fulfill our duty as Celestrians." The two fly off, and land right before the monsters, who instantly freak out and attack.

Alice takes her sword out of its' sheath and slashes one of the slimes right down the middle with a critical hit, and sees Aquila take out the cruelcumber with one slash on his sword. The remaining slime aims for Alice, who seems weaker. Aquila sees this going on, and kills it before Alice can notice. Alice does, however, see thirteen coins lying on the ground, and crouches down to look at them.

_What would monsters even need money for?_ Alice wonders, before pocketing the money. After all, they're not going to need it, right?

Erinn and her grandfather approach the two (although they don't notice), and stop to stare at the sign right before them.

Erinn turns to her grandfather,"See? There's the village!"

"Ahh, I didn't think I'd ever get to see home again, but here we are." Erinn rolls her eyes.

"Don't be so melodramatic, Grandpa! Not only did we only go for a walk, but the village Guardian was watching over us the whole time! There was nothing to worry about." Erinn closes her eyes, and squeezes her hands together in prayer.

"Dear Alice, thank you ever so much for protecting us over our journey." Erinn's body glowed a wonderful shade of blue and a glowing crystal flew out of her body, landing in Alice's hands, before the two of them walked into the village.

"Look, Alice. It is benevolessence, the crystallized symbol of mortals' gratitude towards we who watch and protect them. As Celestrians, our most important duty is to offer up the sacred Benevolessence unto mighty Yggdrasil. Now, let us return to the observatory."

The two Celestrians flap their wings, and take off for home. They fly upwards for a long time, before the observatory finally comes into view. They fly right up through the star-shaped portal, landing on their feet skillfully.

Aquila turns to Alice,"Now, as a Guardian you must report to Apus Major the second you return. You will always be able to find him in the Great Hall, which, as you remember, is in the floor above. I must go speak to Columba, excuse me."

Aquila walks away, and Alice becomes instantly aware of all the stares she is receiving from the fellow Celestrians around her. There's nothing she can do about it though, she's just too different from the rest of them.

Alice walks upstairs, and goes directly to the library, which is where Columba is stationed at. She runs into Columba's apprentice, Hope, right at the entrance. Hope's eyes widen, but she tries to remain calm.

"Oh, Alice! Aquila is inside, speaking to Columba. They have always been close, have they not? Even though they fight often, they have always been friendly for as long as anyone can remember. This is true, right?" Alice nods, and peeks inside the room.

Just as Alice expected, Aquila is inside, talking calmly with Columba. She was about to leave the two alone, when she catches a part of their conversation.

They seemed to have been talking about something that they disagreed on (as usual), and it was resorting to Aquila speaking of the forbidden.

"Do you forget the incident of Corvus so soon?" Columba is surprised, and shushes him.

"No, of course not. But we are not to speak of that, what if Alice hears you? You know that not only is it forbidden, but that you'll make Alice upset. Last time you did this, she disappeared for weeks."

Aquila sighs,"...You're right."

Alice stands there, unnoticed, and closes the door quietly before marching up the steps to Apus Major.

As Aquila said, Apus Major sits in that stupid throne between two wing statues, and smiles as Alice approaches. Alice kneels before her superior, but he hastily makes her stand up.

"Nice to see you again, Alice, apprentice of Aquila. Congratulations on successfully accomplishing your first task as a Guardian. You have performed your duties well, although it was under Aquila's hawk-like watch."

Alice shuffles around, embarrassed by the praise. She doesn't get it very often anymore, and it's even more unsettling that he's speaking so loud. She can feel the stares of several eyes boring into the back of her head.

"However, I think the time has come for you spread your wings." The older Celestrian laughs at his own bad joke. "What about you? Do you think this is a good idea?"

Alice speaks quickly,"Yes, I agree. That would be great. Then, Aquila can work elsewhere with mortals, and the amount of benevolessence will pile up sooner."

"Ahahaha! I see that you not only have confidence, but you think for the sake of your fellow Celestrians. Very good, you will no doubt bring us great things. Anyhow, we now come to the next step of your duties. You have acquired a crystal of benevolessence, have you not? You must now give it up to Yggdrasil, who protects us from the top of the Observatory. Soon, she will bear fruit. Go now."

Alice bows, and rushes out of the room, before climbing up the many steps to the checkpoint. At the checkpoint is a taller, brown-haired Celestrian. The man stares down at Alice, and his voice booms.

"Nobody is allowed past this point, _child_." Alice's smile doesn't waver.

"No problem~ Apus Major wants me to give my benevolessence to Yggdrasil." Alice pulls out her benevolessence, before putting it back. Knowing her circumstances, the others would probably take it from her.

The man's eyes become a tad friendlier. "Oh, is that so? You may pass, then. Good work."

Alice briskly walks past him before he changes his mind, and is stopped at the top of the stairs by a slightly taller young blonde boy.

"Are you offering benevolessence up to Yggdrasil? She will soon bear fruit, and then we Celestrians will be able to return to the Realm of the Almighty." Then, the boy realizes who he's speaking to, and lets her go on her way.

Alice climbs three more staircases before she spots the Great Tree on top of the final staircase. The Great Tree sways gently in the wind, and Alice stops to appreciate the beauty of it before walking up to it.

She kneels before it, before offering up the benevolessence.

"Oh great Yggdrasil, please accept this offering of benevolessence, so that we may return to where we belong in the stars."

The benevolessence glows brighter, and flies up into the tree, which then sparkles a bright white. Alice grins at it.

"Behold, Alice." Aquila's voice shocks Alice, she had thought she was alone.

"We have been offering benevolessence unto Yggdrasil for many a century. It is the greatest duty a Guardian is charged with. I trust that you will do your best to hasten the return."

He stops speaking for a moment, and looks at his childish apprentice.

"You know, Alice, Guardian of Angel Falls... it's incredibly inconvenient to call you by your title all the time. There's no need for it, since you're practically like a sister to me. Therefore, you will let me only address you as Alice."

Alice giggles,"Of course, Aquila."

"Good. As you know, it is forbidden for a Celestrian to oppose their superiors. Now, go tell Apus Major of your accomplishment."

_Is this really an accomplishment? All I did was do my duty._

Alice does not speak her mind, and instead complies with Aquila's command.

* * *

"She was glowing fiercely? Ohoho! The day where we go to the Realm of the Almighty may be sooner than we had thought!" He laughs again. "Now, go back down to the Protectorate and continue to gather benevolessence... without Aquila. When you're ready, go down to the great portal down below."

Usually, there is a guard lady who guards the portal, but, of course, she avoids the portal whenever Alice is coming.

Alice jumps into the portal, and lands on the spot in the middle of the village. She stares at the two troublemakers of the town, Ivor and Hugo. They're just standing near Erinn's house... nothing suspicious about that.

"You know..." Alice hears Ivor's oh-so-pleasant voice pipe up, "It's really weird..."

"What? Are you talking about the name plate thingy on the statue again, Ivor?"

"Well, duh! Of course I mean the name plate, Hugo, you moron! I'm positive that it said 'Aqu-' something, but now it says 'Alice'."

"Are you sure? It's been 'Alice' for as long as I can remember." Ivor smacks Hugo on the head.

"And how long ago was that, exactly? Do you even remember reading it before?"

Hugo laughs sheepishly, and rubs the back of his neck. "No, I-I can't say I do."

"See?! Everyone in this town is strange. It just changed, but everyone thinks it's always been like that!"

"Ah...Ha! It must be the work of the village Guardian, then!" Ivor sighs, and makes a bunch of hand gestures.

"Don't be so stupid! There's no such thing as Guardians. Besides, it's mostly Erinn who believes in that garbage." And then Ivor gets into a long tirade about Erinn.

_He could not be any more obvious. All Ivor ever talks about is Erinn this, and Erinn that._ Alice shakes her head, before wandering around.

Shortly after, Alice runs into the village dog, who gives her a friendly bark. No idea why, but animals are able to see Celestrians.

"Hey there, little guy." Alice scratches his ears, and he runs off a few steps away, before turning around and barking, almost as if he wants Alice to follow him.

Alice walks over towards him, and spots a golden ring on the ground. She picks it up, and gives the dog a good scratching for his good work.

"Good boy, you were trying to help me out, weren't you?" The dog nuzzles against her hand.

Alice soon bids farewell to the dog, and walks over to the horse stable. The man inside, Old Man Howard, is always trying to get his wife to agree to him buying another horse.

_He works so hard, too._ Alice watches Howard sleep on the floor in the stable. He must have been in the middle of cleaning, because there is horse shit everywhere.

"I guess I can help him out this one time." Alice ever-present smile turns nicer, and she grabs the bucket he uses to clean.

. . . . .

Right after she finishes, Old Man Howard conveniently wakes up with a start. "Oh no! I fell asleep again! Now my wife won't let me get another horse-"

He stops, and stares at the clean stable. "Wha- How did it get so clean? I hadn't even started cleaning yet!...Oh! It must have been Alice, tryin' to help me get another horse!"

He looks up at the roof, smiling. "Thank you, Alice! I'll work twice as hard now, I promise! I'll have another horse in no time, just you wait!"

Alice laughs, the villagers are always so humble and nice. Howard glows that nice bluish glow, and the crystal of benevolessence comes out of his body. Alice gets it, and decides to check out the church. The ring looked important, and if she had lost it, she'd be praying to the Almighty to help her find it.

Exactly as she had expected, there was a nice old lady in the pews.

"Please, Guardian Alice! Help me find my husband's ring..." The old woman shed a few tears, and Alice quickly slipped the ring into her pocket.

Apparently, old ladies have the power to sense the slightest change in weight.

"Hm? My coat suddenly feels a tiny bit heavier." She fishes into her pocket, and takes out the ring.

"Oh, thank the Lord Almighty! It's my Bruce's ring!...I just don't understand. I searched everywhere for it, and I couldn't find it anywhere." The lady looks around, before stopping.

"It must have been Alice. We're so lucky to have a Guardian who takes such good care of us. Thank you! Thank you, Alice!" The lady glows the bluish glow, and then the benevolessence comes out.

When Alice walks outside, it's already become night time. Alice, thinking she heard something, turns to her left. She is shocked to see Aquila hovering in the middle of the village, and she makes her way towards him.

"Aquila, what are you doing here?" Aquila freezes, and turns to Alice.

"Oh, Alice!" The fact that you can't see Alice's eyes was very stressing. You'd have no idea if she was angry or not, because she keeps them closed upwards in her permanent smile.

"Were you following me around all day?" Aquila thinks he hears a hint of annoyance in her voice, but shrugs it off as him imagining it. After all, it's nearly impossible to make Alice angry.

He looks away, feeling slightly guilty. "...Now it is my duty to roam over the Protectorate, so even though you guard it well, sometimes I must return to Angel Falls."

Aquila turns around to see that Alice is nowhere in sight. He turns around in all directions, and finds her talking to a ghost up ahead. Alarmed, he rushes up to them. This ghost has a viking-like helmet on, and the ones like him are usually violent. Even though she's a Celestrian, Alice is still a small child.

Before he could even do anything, however, the spirit thanked her, and ascended up to the heavens, leaving a brighter piece of benevolessence. Alice waved goodbye at him, and put the benevolessence in her pouch with the others.

"Alice! Are you ok?!" Aquila turns her around, and looks her up and down.

"What? Yes, I'm fine. He just wanted to know why everybody was ignoring him. He was a nice guy." Alice smiles, and spins in circles.

"So? Can I return to the Observatory now?"

"Yes, you can go, but I must stay behind and look around some mor-Hm?" Aquila and Alice turn their heads up to see a glowing train zoom across the sky.

"...The Starflight Express has been unusually active recently... I changed my mind. I will accompany you back to the Observatory after all, Alice." Aquila grabs Alice's arm, and the two of them fly up back home.

As soon as they got back, Aquila excused himself to go... somewhere. Not really important, so Alice went upstairs, about to report to Apus Major, like Aquila told her to earlier, but he wasn't there. Then, she decided to just fuck it and go up to Yggdrasil.

Of course, that is exactly where Aquila and Apus Major were the entire time.

They turn to her when they hear her footsteps, since Alice is the only one who walks around in the Observatory.

Aquila speaks first,"You have the best timing, Alice. Yggdrasil is almost ready to burst with all the benevolessence we have offered unto Her. She is but a hair's breath away from bearing fruit."

Apus Major recites some weird old timers' story, it's really boring, and Alice has heard this a thousand times, literally. Even more boring is that Aquila joins in at the end, and then they advise her to give up her benevolessence to Yggdrasil.

As soon as Alice does so, the sacred tree glows yellow in several places, suddenly bearing fyggs. The Starlight Express turns around sharply, and approaches the boundary of the Observatory, but it blasted with a dark purple light. Several rays of the light blow throw the Observatory, and Aquila turns to Alice to tell her to go back inside, but right then, a spiral of the purple light hits her dead on, sending her over the edge, and she loses consciousness as her body hurls down to the Protectorate.


	2. Chapter 2

"Oh, Look. It's that creepy Alice girl who nearly drowned a few days ago." Ivor loudly whispers to Hugo as they walk up to her.

They have no way of telling if she's even awake or not, the girl always has her eyes closed. She's really tiny, and they had to bandage up her head and hands. She seemed to have been badly burned, but she's able to walk around just fine.

Ivor shakes her shoulder. "Wakey wakey! Stop spacing out! What are you staring at?"

Alice is unable to tell them that she was trying to communicate with her fellow Celestrians. Secretly, if a Celestrian touches the forehead of the statue, a beacon is sent up towards the communications room.

Not getting an answer, Ivor sighs, and shakes his head. "I don't know what Erinn thinks is so special about this girl, she won't tell us anything about her, and her clothes are made from some material I've never seen before... I don't trust her at all."

Hugo laughs,"It's probably her name, it **is** the same as our village Guardian's."

Ivor snorts,"I doubt that's even her real name. She's probably just wandering around, taking on Guardian's names to get free stuff."

Ivor gets closer to Alice, who has been smiling at him this entire time."Just you watch yourself! I won't let you get away with whatever it is you're planning!"

"Yeah! Ivor doesn't like Erinn only paying attention to you!" Ivor whips around and smacks Hugo.

"Shut up! Oh my god! Why would you even say that?!" He looks around, and jumps when he sees Erinn approaching.

Erinn instantly accuses them of bullying the small girl. "What are you bothering Alice for?"

Ivor turns oddly humble,"Oh, hi Erinn! We're just telling Alice here a few stories about the village."

"Oh, really? Is that true, Alice?" The three of them turn to the girl in question, but are surprised to see that she's just staring up at the sky.

"...Alice? What are you doing?" Erinn touches Alice on the shoulder, and Alice looks up at her with her radiant smile.

"Oh! I was just staring at some birds. They're really pretty~" Alice giggles, and Ivor and Hugo use that instance to back away slowly.

Erinn sighs,"I don't know what's got into Ivor these days, he used to be a lot better. Anyway, you must be feeling better if you can walk around, Alice." Alice nods.

Erinn smiles at the girl, and looks at the waterfall to her left. "Coming up here reminds me how I found you. That was a surprise! You must have been surprised from the earthquake and fell from the top of the waterfall. You are really lucky to be alive, with your size."

Erinn hasn't asked why Alice was supposedly at the top of the waterfall, or why her parents haven't come looking for her, but that's more convenient for Alice.

"Anyhow, I'm heading home now, there's nothing more to be done at the inn for now. Enjoy the rest of your walk, but don't hurt yourself, okay? Come back to the house when you're done." Erinn turns around and walks back inside her house, only a few steps away from the statue.

Alice, deciding that she should make the best of things, walks over to the stables to see Old Man Howard tending to his new horse.

He was talking to himself, old age clearly getting to him. "I worked for so long, and I finally got the money to buy myself another horse! Shame that she went and got herself hurt in that damn earthquake, though. Man, and I had Alice on my side and everything..."

The old man turned around, noticing little Alice.

"Oh, hello Alice. I didn't mean you, so don't get the wrong idea. What are you up to?"

Alice smiles at the old man. Even though she's clearly suspicious, the old people of the village have been really nice to her. It's probably because of her size, though.

"I wanted to check on the horsey! Is she okay?" Alice tilts her head.

"Oh, don't worry dear. She'll be alright, she just needs time." The old man pats Alice's head, and shoos her outside.

"Now go play, you're still young!"

The moment the door closes on her, Alice scampers over to the mayor's house, intent on bothering Ivor. Luckily, every citizen leaves their doors unlocked, because the village has nobody that's suspicious. Well, except for Alice now, but she's too small and adorable to really make anybody but Ivor suspicious of her.

Alice peeks over the edge of the door frame to the living room, and listens in on the mayor scolding Ivor.

Blah blah blah, Ivor needs to get a job, blah blah blah, Ivor doesn't care.

Alice lets out a small giggle, and hawk-ears Ivor whips his head in her direction. Ivor excuses himself, and grabs Alice's arm, dragging her outside.

"What are you doing?! You don't just go inside other people's houses!...Don't tell Erinn about what you just saw...please?"

Alice nods, and Ivor takes her back to Erinn's the way, they run into the village dog, who lopes up to them. Ivor takes a step back, because the dog is known to be hostile towards everyone but the clergy, but is shocked when it comes up to Alice, and rolls over; a sign of submission.

"Oh, it's you! Thanks for the other day, I'm surprised you still recognize me, though~" Alice rubs the dog's belly, and Ivor stands there, amazed.

_Oh yeah, that dog is the one who barked up a storm until an adult came to help Erinn take her out of the water._ Ivor watches the two play, and eventually evening rolls around.

Erinn opens the door and leans out of the doorway,"Alice! It's time for dinner!"

Alice looks up, and gives the dog a final petting, before skipping towards Erinn.

* * *

Erinn stares at the adorable, yet peculiar sight before her.

Alice is curled into a ball, sucking her thumb. The odd thing is that she took all the covers and blankets off the bed, and hasn't eaten anything since she got here, and it's starting to worry Erinn. What if the girl is emotionally scarred by being in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by strangers?

But that's impossible, because Alice is friendly with everyone. Erinn shakes her head, and gets back to the task at hand. She shakes Alice to wake her up.

"Alice, get up! You have a visitor, Ivor's here, and he's got something he wants to talk to you about. I can't tell him to leave, because he knows you're here. Just give him a few minutes, ok?"

Alice gets up, and rubs her eyes. Erinn almost "awwww's" at how adorable she is, wearing the old pajamas Erinn wore as a child, although they're still slightly oversized.

"A-Anyway, if Ivor gives you any trouble, you teach him a lesson, ok? He needs to be taken down a few pegs sometimes." With that, Erinn walks out of the room, and goes downstairs.

Alice changes clothes, and carefully makes her way down the stairs, because her balance is off now that she doesn't have wings, tiny though they were. When she gets to the bottom of the stairs, she sees Ivor staring at her, and gesturing for her to come over.

"Don't look so surprised, there's just something I want to talk to you about." He looks at Erinn and her grandfather, who are listening intently. "We can't talk about it here, come outside with me for a moment."

The two walk around to the side of the house, and Ivor speaks quietly to Alice.

"Here's the thing: You know about the earthquake, right? Well, it triggered a landslide that blocked the pass from Stornway to here. That pass is vital for Angel Falls, we're screwed if we can't use it anymore. It's a real problem for Erin- I mean everyone. So, I was thinking that maybe I could go clear the landslide and save the day! It'd get my old man off my back, and Erinn would be pleased as well...but, there's just one thing stopping me."

"What?" Alice was loving listening to the ramblings of Ivor, the love-struck boy.

"Since the earthquake, there have been monsters everywhere, so it's pretty dangerous. That's where you come in. I was thinking that you could tag along, maybe." He gestures towards the shiny sword on Alice's back.

"You look like you know how to use a sword, so you could be pretty handy in a fight. What do you say? Gonna help me out?"

Alice nods,"Yeah~ I'd love to help Erinn out~"

Ivor laughs,"Somehow, I knew you'd say that! Alright, just follow me."

The two of them make their way towards the gate that leads outside, but they get stopped at the gate by Hugo. Hugo places his hand on Alice's head, keeping her from moving forward. Somehow he didn't seem to notice Ivor standing right beside her.

"Hey there, little girl! You can't go out there, there are too many monsters." Ivor smacks Hugo on the head.

"Stop trying to scare her! We're leaving the village and there's nothing you can do about it!" Hugo starts, shocked to see the two of them together.

"W-What do you mean? Since when were you two all buddy-buddy?"

Ivor groans,"You're such a pain in my neck! We're just going to go clear the landslide."

Hugo looks at Alice. "So you recruited Alice? She's so tiny, she'll be dead in a minute. There's no way she'll be useful at all."

Alice, meanwhile, is just watching the show, grinning at how stupid they are. Oh, if only they knew how handy she was with a sword.

"We'll see about that. Now, move your ass! Hold us up any longer and we'll be found out!" Hugo hurries aside, and the two walk out of the village (actually, Alice is skipping).

. . . . . .

Ivor had said that Alice would be useful, but he hadn't expected her to slaughter every monster in their path. Eventually the other monsters got the picture, and steered clear of the pair.

When they finally arrived at the mountain pass, Alice is surprised by the sight of the Starflight Express, crashed into the ground.

Ivor looks at her, suspiciously,"What are you looking at? Have you never seen a fallen tree before? You're so weird sometimes, you know that?"

He shook his head, and walked on ahead of her. Alice watched it for a while longer, and then noticed a ring lying on the ground. She picked it up and put it on her finger, but it's too big.

As she skipped away to catch up with Ivor, a pink ball of light flew down from nowhere.

"What the... that girl acted as though she could see the Starflight Express..."

* * *

Alice finally catches up with Ivor, who is staring at the landslide, blocking her view.

"What's wrong, Ivor?" Alice leans over the side of him, taking a peek at the sight, and stops cold.

Under some of the rocks is a girl with pitch-black hair, and tan-ish skin. Alice rushes over to her, and starts to try and remove the rocks from on top of her. Ivor, realizing what she's doing, helps her out, and they drag the girl out from under the landslide. As Alice pets the girl, trying to wake her up, Ivor kicks a rock.

"This is worse than I thought! How are we supposed to move all these rocks? Damned landslide!" Ivor sniffs,"Man, I thought I was going to do something that'd make my dad proud of me!"

He kicks another rock, and they hear a voice from the other side of the landslide.

"Hello? Hello? If anybody's there, say something!"

Ivor stands up straight,"Hello! It's me, Ivor of Angel Falls!"

"Holy shit! Somebody from Angel Falls! We're soldiers from Stornway, ordered to clear this landslide by King Schott.

Ivor turns back to Alice, speaking quietly. "Blimey! The King of Stornway must think pretty highly of Angel Falls to bother helping us out!...I suppose we're no longer needed here. Let's return to the falls."

"WAIT! Have you seen lady named Patty? She works in the inn in Stornway, but she disappeared a few days ago, saying she had to go to Angel Falls. Nobody's heard of her since."

"Nope! What would she come to Angel Falls for, anyway?...Oh well, we'll check and see if anyone's seen her."

"Thank you!"

Alice fishes into her pouch, and pulls out a chimaera wing, before grabbing Ivor's and the girl's hands and tossing the wing, teleporting them instantly back to the falls.

* * *

"You idiot! You went through all that trouble to clear the landslide?! You even endangered this young girl!" The mayor yelled at Ivor.

"Alice is actually a lot tougher than she looks! And anyway, we helped a girl stuck in the rocks!"

"...You're right. That girl was very lucky that I have such an idiotic son."

"...Gee, thanks. Anyway, I heard something from the soldiers before we left. They want to know if anybody named 'Patty' came through here, she reportedly went missing a few days ago."

Erinn comes crashing through the doorway,"Wait! Is that true?"

Ivor jumps in surprise,"Wha-Erinn! What are you doing here?"

Erinn turns to him, visibly angered. "What do you think?! I came here because I heard you whisked Alice off on a dangerous adventure! Anyway, is it true that Patty from Stornway has gone missing?"

The mayor nods,"Ah, yes. You're originally from Stornway, aren't you? Did you know the woman?"

Erinn looks down,"I remember my dad used to talk about somebody named Patty sometimes from his days in Stornway...Oh no! What if she didn't know he died, and she came to visit him?"

The mayor sighs, and pats her shoulder. "I understand your concern, but we can't very well send a search party in these times. We don't even know where she went through."

Ivor stays quiet for a moment, before adding his two cents. "What if she went through the Hexagon? It is how we used to get to Stornway, but we built that pass so that we wouldn't have to go through all the danger that the Hexagon gave us."

"Hmmm... well, we still can't be of any help. The Hexagon is far too dangerous nowadays. Erinn, why don't you go get Alice and go home? She's upstairs with the lady they rescued. I have to talk some sense into my son."

Erinn turns around, and hurries up the stairs, expecting the worst.

"Alice? Alice, are you all right?!" Erinn slams the door open, and is amazed to see Alice sitting on a tiny stool in front of one of the beds, unharmed. Erinn puts her hand on Alice's shoulder, and Alice turns her head to the left.

"Oh, thank the Almighty!" Erinn hugs Alice tightly, before noticing the black-haired beauty lying on the bed.

"What happened?"

"Shh, she's sleeping! We found her in the landslide, stuck under the rocks." Erinn helped Alice carry the girl back over to Erinn's house, and they placed her gently in Erinn's bed.

Erinn puts a nice cold washcloth on the girl's forehead, before squeezing Alice in another tight hug.

"I was so worried when I heard you'd left the village! Thank goodness you're alright, though. You might be a whole lot tougher than I thought." Alice pats the girl on her arm, listening to Erinn as she speaks.

"It's terrible that Patty's gone missing, though... If only somebody could go look in the Hexagon for her." Erinn sighs, before turning to the window. Alice quietly walks out of the room.

_Saving her friend is the least I can do, she's helped me out quite a bit since I came here._ Alice wraps a bandana that Erinn gave her around her head, trying to seem stealthy as she sneaks out of the village.

It's just her luck that the village dog starts following her, trying to get more belly rubs. Alice shushes him.

"Not now, doggy! I'm trying to do my Guardian Duty!" She quietly scolds him, hoping that nobody hears her. The dog whines, and nuzzles his body against her. Alice sighs, and scratches his ear.

"You just want to help, don't you boy? All right, you can come with." The dog barks gleefully.

"...But, I can't just keep calling you 'boy' or 'doggy'. I'll name you... George! C'mon George, we got work to do~" Alice hops on his back, and George takes off out of the village, rushing towards the Hexagon.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't that hard to find the Hexagon, since it was bigger than the surrounding trees. George trots up to the entrance, and lowers himself so that Alice can safely slide off his back.

She scratches his head, "Good job, George. Now, you stay here, and I'll go check it out, 'kay?"

He barks in response, and lies down, looking all official and stuff.

* * *

Alice walks into the decrepit Hexagon, and looks around. Nothing looks too terribly interesting... or so it seems. She spots a large stone tablet, and skips up towards it.

"Ah~? It has some kind of writing on it..." She reads it, "...Path ahead is sealed due to dangerous beasts killing people."

She scratches the back of her head, "I guess I'll have to look for another path or something..."

Alice spins around towards the other direction, but stops when she sees a scruffy-looking old man ghost. He turns away from her, and takes off through a passage Alice hadn't noticed when she came in.

She follows him for quite a while, and they finally come upon a statue. It's a faded green color, covered in mold, and in the shape of a warrior holding a shield in front of him. Alice turns back towards the ghost man, and saw that he was pointing towards the back of the statue; then the ghost man disappeared.

She walks around to the back of the statue, and saw a prominent button-looking device on the neck. She pressed it without a second thought, and the ground starting shaking, terrible tremors echoing throughout the building. Once it passed, Alice walked back out of the passage, and looked around. She noticed that the stone tablet from before had moved, revealing a secret doorway.

Passing through, she noticed that there were a few decayed bodies lying around a staircase. She inched closer, and saw that there was a very beautiful (albeit bloodstained) pink fan and a leather shield on top of a horribly torn up body. Alice looked around, but she didn't see any ghosts.

"I guess they all moved on..." She murmured as she slowly pocketed the two items. She scavenged through all the bodies, and found some money, herbs, and two bottles of holy water (she thinks that last pair of items came from what looks like it may have been a priest).

"Thanks for the support, rest in peace you guys." She clapped her hands together, and then descended down the stairs.

As she gets to the bottom of the stairs, a bunch of weird bag-like monsters mob-rushed her. They tried to beat her up, but they were too dumb, and only had their tongues to attack with; basically, they did no damage, so Alice mopped the floor with them. Alice is forced to fight her way through the monsters to get to another set of stairs. By the time she makes her way to the B2 floor, her clothes were splattered with blood, but only one speck of blood got on her face.

Luckily, she found a large sack of coins lying around at the bottom, and she stuffed it into her bag. After that, it was a bunch of monster fights.

* * *

_. . . Meanwhile, back at Erinn's . . ._

Erinn sighs for the tenth time, and checks the mysterious lady's temperature for the twentieth time. It had been unusually quiet ever since she and Alice had come back home, and it was not helping Erinn keep her mind off of Patty's disappearance.

"Nnn..." Erinn takes her hand away from the lady's head quickly as the aforementioned lady sat up, rubbing her face with her hands. "...What happened?"

"You got caught in the landslide. You're in Angel Falls now." Erinn smiled gently at the girl.

The girl's eyes widened in surprise, "...Were you the one that saved me?"

Erinn shakes her head, "Nope, it was our mayor's son Ivor and a little girl named Alice. In fact, Alice is probably in her room sleeping, I'll go get her."

She walks over to Alice's room, and knocks on the door. "Alice? You awake?"

After a few minutes with no reply, Erinn cracks the door open, and sees that the room is in the same condition as it was when Alice left with Ivor this morning... meaning that Alice is not there. Erinn closes the door, and walks downstairs to see if Alice was playing a game with Grandpa.

"Alice, are you down here? That nice lady is awake..." Erinn blinked, staring at nothing. There was no Alice in sight, and Grandpa was fast asleep in his bed. She turned and walked back upstairs, into her room, and sat in one of the chairs at the table she keeps in her room.

"Did you find her?" Erinn looked up at the lady.

"...No. I couldn't find her anywhere."

"...Well, I'm sure she's okay. After all, she was able to help me get home, right? So she must be able to fend for herself." Erinn gazed deeply at her, hypnotized.

"What's your name? Mine's Erinn."

"Marine. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"...Oh yeah, what were you coming to Angel Falls for, anyway?" Realization dawns on Marine's face, and she jumps out of bed.

"SHIT! I was supposed to escort that damned old lady here, but she went ahead and disappeared!" Marine let out a stream of hushed curses, seething at her employer.

"Calm down! She's probably just fine, and you should be more concerned with yourself right now. You were buried by a landslide, you should lie down." Erinn forced Marine back onto the bed, and sat down on her windowsill, waiting for Alice to come back from wherever she went.

"She's going to be in so much trouble when she comes back."

* * *

"Sweet! A robe!" Alice throws on a pure white silk robe that she had 'rescued' from some monsters she killed. This was such a good find, since her Celestrian clothes were now entirely covered in blood. Alice applied an herb to her wounds, and opened up the big door she had found at the end of the tunnel.

She walks around an underground lake, and up yet ANOTHER set of stairs (if there weren't so many stairs in the Observatory, Alice would be so done with stairs) to see a lady with purple hair in a low ponytail, her legs trapped under a large boulder. Alice assumed that this was Patty. Patty turns when she hears footsteps, and sees Alice skipping towards her.

"Oh my... I didn't think anybody would come all the way down here! Hey there, Sweetie, do you think you could be a dear and help move this rock off me? I'm not injured, but I'm kind of stuck here, and I don't want to be here forever."

Just as Alice was reaching down to help, a tremor echoed throughout the room, and some rubble came down from the ceiling.

"Oh dear, it seems that blasted monster's back! I got trapped here when it made these damned rocks collapse. Be careful, Sweetie!"

Patty didn't really know if the girl was going to be able to do anything, but hey, she had to get down here somehow, right?

Alice ran straight at the weird bull-looking creature, and stabbed it right in the nose with her sword, digging it in deep. The bull let out a painful roar, and stomped his feet, sending rubble down on Alice's head. Because Celestrian's are much tougher than human mortals, it barely even hurt.

Alice began a cycle of circling the bull, making deep slashes at it when she could, and evading the bull's ramming. It was not long before the bull just up and died, falling on its side in defeat. Alice looted the body for one hundred gold coins (why does the monster even have money?) and then took some of its hide.

Patty let out a low whistle, getting Alice's attention. "Man, you're loads tougher than you look, aren't you? At any rate, thanks for saving me from that beast. I was able to get myself free while you were keeping that thing busy, so let's get out of here. Your family is probably worried about you."

The two of them walked out of the Hexagon unharmed (well, Patty was still slightly limping). Now that the main "boss" is defeated, none of the other monsters tried to threaten the duo.

Patty let out a sigh of relief as they stared at the sunset. "I thought I'd never get out of there, y'know? I just can't deal with dark places."

She turns back to Alice, "By the way, I'm Patty. I run an inn at Stornway."

"I already knew that. My name's Alice, and I'm staying in Angel Falls, I guess."

"What? Really?!... That reminds me, I have to get to Angel Falls quick! See 'ya, Sweetie! Thanks loads for your help!" Patty signed off at her, and ran away. George trotted up to Alice, and nudged his face against hers.

"Good work waiting, boy, let's go back home."

* * *

Erinn hears the inn's bell chime, and turns away from staring out the window. Patty was looking about everywhere.

"Oh, hello. Welcome to Angel Fall's Inn-"

"This must be Edwinn's place! He's the only one who would design a place like this."

Erinn stared at Patty, "Did you know my father...?... Oh! You're Patty, right? I heard that you went missing in the Hexagon, I was so worried!"

Patty grinned, "Aw, you're so sweet! I can't believe you even remember my name! You were so young back then..." She looked around, "So, where's ol' Edwinn? Hiding from work?"

Erinn hung her head sadly, "I'm sorry to say that he's no longer with us. He passed away two years ago..."

Patty took a step back in surprise, "What?! He's passed away?...I can't believe it..."

"I'm sorry that you came here for nothing..."

Patty ignored that statement, "...Does that mean you've been running this place all by yourself?"

"Well-yes. I wanted to keep my father's dream alive, so I've been taking care of the inn."

"Well, it's so nice and comfortable here! I'd expect nothing less from the daughter of the Inncredible Inntertainer!"

"...I'm sorry, what?"

"You're coming with me to Stornway, kid! You're too good to be wasting your time in this small town!"

Before Erinn had a chance to react to that rather rude statement, Alice walked in through the door, getting everyone's attention.

"Alice?! Where have you been?! You had me worried sick!" Erinn rushed over to Alice, and got on her knees, closely inspecting Alice's body for any injuries. Seeing the hardened blood speck on her cheek, Erinn proceeded to flip the fuck out.

"Where did you get this?! Are you feeling ok?! Do you need to lie down!? C'mon, let's get you home, that lady you brought home woke up." Erinn picked up Alice like a tiny baby, and turned back to Patty. "I'm sorry, but I cannot discuss fantasies with you right now. If you need a place to stay, I guess we can give you Alice's bed, and she'll sleep with me."

"Oh? Is she your little sister? She really helped me out, I'd never have gotten out of the Hexagon without her assistance." Erinn stood there in silence, before walking right out of the inn, and going home, Patty following behind her.

"Grandpa, Marine, we're back!" Patty stopped cold.

"...Did you say-" A shout interrupted her.

"YOU DAMNED OLD LADY! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GO!?" Marine flew at Patty, and put her in a choke hold. Erinn dropped Alice right on her butt and tried to break the two apart.

* * *

"...So, Patty is Marine's employer, and you two were trying to come here so that you could ask my dad for help because he's some kind of inn god?"

"...Yeah, pretty much." Patty shrugged.

Alice sat on Erinn's bed, kicking her feet in some childish rhythm. Erinn had made her change into a pair of Erinn's old pajamas. Marine sat beside her, wondering how somebody that saved her could be so small.

"What does that have to do with me?"

"Well, you're a chip off the ol' block, so I'm sure you'll do great! I have an eye for talent, y'know."

"But I don't want to go!"

"Too bad, you're coming with me one way or another."

"...I-I have to go get started on making dinner. Alice is probably really hungry, aren't you, Alice?... And please stop trying to talk me into going with you!" Erinn runs out of the room, Alice softly following after her.

Erinn stops at the bottom of the stairs, and turns back to Alice. "...Hey, Alice. What do you think I should do?"

"Mm~ I think you should do what you think is right." Erinn smiled, and shook her head.

"You're right, maybe I'm over-thinking things..." She turned and went towards the kitchen to make dinner. Alice looked out the window, and saw the weird old ghost man from earlier outside, peeking in through the window. She glanced at Erinn to make sure she wasn't paying attention, and slipped out through the door quietly.

"Hello Mr. Ghost man, what 'cha doing staring at Erinn?" The ghost freaks out, and turns to Alice with a start.

"Y-You scared me! Please don't ever do that again!" He turned back towards the window, but did a double take at Alice, "Wait, you can see me?! How?... Y'know, I thought you saw me back at the Hexagon, too. You must have some kind of talent."

"...How rude of me, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Edwinn, I fell to illness two years ago and died. However, as you can see I haven't been able to move on yet. Who are you?"

"Alice."

"Ah, you're Alice...hm?" Edwinn's eyes bugged out, "...R-Really?! But... i-isn't that the name of our village Guardian?"

"HEY, YOU TWO! HOLD ON!" A pink ball of light came flying towards Alice at a high speed, smacking her right in the face. When the ball rebounded off of Alice, it turned into a fairy-like girl; with long, curly blonde hair, tan skin, and pink wings. All in all, she was about as tall as Alice.

"Ow! Geez, can't you be more careful about where you're flapping standing?!... Never mind, I'm so nice that I'll forgive you." The fairy turned to Edwinn, "Now, old man! You were talking about this girl being a Celestrian, right? I thought the same thing, but this mess of a girl hardly fits the image of a Celestrian, don't you think? She has no halo, wings, and she's so tiny! There's no way she's a Celestrian, right?"

Edwinn looked completely lost, he clearly didn't follow the conversation at all. "...Ah, I suppose you may be right... by the way, who and what exactly are you?"

The fairy did a fashionable pose, "I am Stella, stunning skipper of the stupendous sky-soaring Starflight Express!"

"Oh, that's a cool title." Alice giggles. Stella turns towards her.

"Well, it's your turn to reveal you true colors. You look like a mortal in every way, so how can you see ghosts and the like?"

Alice gave them a short version of how she came to be here.

"...You got hit by a beam of purple light and fell off the Observatory during the earthquake? And when you came to, both your wings AND your halo were gone? Is that right, Alice?"

"Yep."

"Sounds like a lot of fungus if you ask me. You lost your Celestrian powers, so how is it that you can still see otherworldly things?" Stella put her hand to her chin in contemplation, "...I've got it! You can prove you're a Celestrian by sending this old bloke up to the Heavens! He looks like he could use your help."

"W-What? I-I may not exactly be happy, but..." Edwin trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. You're still here because you've got unfinished business, am I right?" Edwinn nodded, "Alright then, Alice here will help you on your way. After that, I'll give you a lift back up to the Observatory, just because I'm nice, okay?"

"That sounds fair." Alice laughed, and gestured towards Edwinn to speak.

"Well, the only thing I can think of is the item I buried under the shrub behind the inn..."

Alice nodded, and made her way over to the spot mentioned. She finds the shrub, and calls for George, who digs with his doggy paws. After a short amount of time, George hits his paw against something hard, and whimpers. Alice reaches over and pulls out what looks like a trophy out of the ground.

"Oh, this must be what he was talking about." She turns back to George and his injured paw, and casts a small healing spell on it. "Thanks for the hard work, George. Good job~"

Alice skips back towards Erinn's house, and get's the affirmative from Edwinn that it is indeed what he wanted to show Erinn. Alice took it inside, and since it seemed that Erinn had gone back up towards her room, she went upstairs to Erinn's room. All three inhabitants turned to face Alice when she came through the door.

"Alice! You can't keep disappearing..." Erinn trailed off as her eyes landed on the big shiny trophy Alice carried. Patty grins, and pats Alice on the head.

"Good job, Sweetie! You found Edwinn's Inny!"

Alice passes the trophy to Erinn, who gapes at both it and Alice. "...Alice, where did you even find this?"

"That's not important. The important thing is that your father WAS a big-time innkeeper."

"Why did he give that up though...?"

Erinn's grandpa came slowly making his way through the doorway, "I can help you with that."

Erinn's grandpa gave a long-winded explanation about how Erinn used to be sick, blah blah blah, Edwinn gave up everything and moved to Angel Falls, blah blah blah.

". . .He never told you this because he knew that you'd blame yourself for this, but maybe you can understand now that you're older." Erinn's grandpa turned around and shambled on out.

"...He did that for me...?" Erinn got really quiet, and then abruptly turned to Patty. "... You know what? I will go with you to Stornway."

"Yes! Good choice, dear!" Patty rubbed face against Erinn's head, suffocating Erinn.

"Good for you, Erinn. I knew you'd take the right path in the end~" Alice hummed, rocking back and forth on her heels. Erinn opened her eyes, and looked at Alice in realization.

"Oh, what are you going to do, Alice? Are you going to stay here with Gramps?" Alice shakes her head.

"Nope, I'm going to be returning home." All three girls looked at her in surprise, but for varying reasons.

"You're not related to Erinn?... I guess it was obvious that you don't look alike." Patty sighed.

"You're going home by yourself? Are you going to be okay?" Erinn hovered over Alice, not knowing what to do.

"Yeah, I'll be all right." She pauses, "...I'm going to bed now, g'night."


	4. Chapter 4

Marine kicks open the door to the inn, "We're back! Somebody make me some tea!"

A girl of average height, with deep red shoulder-length hair, and dark purple eyes dropped the tray she was carrying, but luckily she was just practicing so nothing was on it. She runs over to Marine and tackles her, spinning around her in a hug.

"Ma~rine! I didn't think you were coming back!" Patty frowned.

"You didn't care about your dear Aunt? What a world..."

"Sheila, stop playing around, let them sit down." A girl much taller than Marine came from seemingly nowhere; her dark brown hair in a messy ponytail.

"Geez, you're no fun Iris...Fine~!" Sheila pouted, jumping onto a bar stool.

Erinn watched her move and interact, and was reminded of Alice. It had been about two days since they had parted ways, and Erinn couldn't help but wonder about her. Did she get home okay? Were her parents treating her well enough? Where does she even live?

Marine stared at Erinn, and then reached over and snapped her fingers in front of Erinn's face.

"Hey, you. Introduce yourself. Everyone's waiting." Erinn looked up and around, and saw that everyone (save Marine and Patty) was indeed staring at her.

She took a deep breath, _This is going to be tough. _

_. . . One explanation later . . ._

Just as things were quieting down, the door's bell chimes, signaling the entrance of a person. Erinn looks up, and grins widely at the person.

"Alice! How'd you get here?" Alice slowly made her way over to the counter, where Erinn had stationed herself, and was barely able to peek over the counter. All the people in the room simultaneously 'awwed' at her.

"I wasn't able to find my way home after all, so I came to see how you were doing." Patty came up from behind Alice, and picked her up.

"What you mean is that you were worried about her, so you came to lend your assistance?" Alice gazed in Patty's general direction; her closed eyes made it impossible for Patty to tell if she was looking at her or not.

"...Miss Patty, I hope you're not suggesting that we're going to let this small child partake in our trade." Iris narrowed her animal-like yellow eyes, frowning at her employer.

"Of course not, I'm just saying that Alice could use her cuteness to rustle up some business! So, what do you say, Sweetie?"

Alice hummed musically, "I guess I could help you out. I don't really have anything else to do."

"Good! Go get to work, child!" Patty petted Alice's head like you would pet a puppy for good behavior, and set her down, giving her a little push for encouragement.

"Okay~ I'll be back later then~" Alice skipped out the door, whistling.

After the door closed, Sheila came out of the kitchen, carrying a tea tray for Marine. As she passed the tea to Marine, she looked around the premise.

"Who just came in?"

"Erinn's little friend, Alice. She also helped me get out of a landslide, and she supposedly rescued Patty from the Hexagon. All in all, she's a pretty nice girl." Marine sipped her tea, and let out a sigh of content. "Nothing beat's your tea, Sheila."

"Heh, you're too kind~" Sheila giggled. Iris stood in the background, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.

* * *

As Alice walked around town, telling them about Erinn's new inn, she happened upon a huge sign in the middle of town.

It read, _**MYSTERIOUS KNIGHT HAS BEEN TERRORIZING THE TOWN, BRAVE WARRIORS ARE BEING RECRUITED TO DEFEAT HIM. IF YOU ACCEPT, COME TO SEE KING SCHOTT. RACE AND SIZE ARE NOT TO BE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.**_

"...Hm... size doesn't matter, huh? This could be a good way to get my powers back, right Stella?" Alice murmured to the fairy, who was in ball-form, hitching a ride in her robe's pouch.

"You might be on to something there, kid! Get to the castle A.S.A.P.!" Alice grinned, and skipped towards the large castle at the end of the road.

Unfortunately, she was stopped at the gate by a pair of soldiers. "Halt! Who goes there!?"

"I'm Alice, I came to help with the knight problem~" The pair of soldiers exchanged wary glances, but they stood aside to let her in.

_It seemed that the thing about no discrimination was true_, Alice mused as she walked on past them, through the door, and up the stairs to the throne room.

"Confound it, Simona! How many times do I need to tell you that you're not to go and see that blasted Wight Knight!" King Schott roared at the teenage girl in front of him, presumably Simona.

"But Father, he only comes to town because he's looking for me! If I go meet him, then peaceful times will befall our dear Stornway once more."

King Schott snorted, "Ridiculous! Do you think I'm the kind of man who would sacrifice his daughter for the sake of peace?"

"But-" It seemed that they both noticed Alice's pitter-pattering footsteps, and they stopped bickering to watch her enter the room.

King Schott sat back down on his throne, "You there! Approach the throne!"

The two of them DID think that their visitor was rather tiny at first sight, but when Alice walked gracefully towards them and got down on one knee, they were more than just surprised. They looked at her, disbelievingly, and King Schott cleared his throat.

"...Did you come here because of the sign in town...?"

"Yep!" Alice chirped, shocking both of them.

Simona turned visibly paler, "You mean you're going to go up against the Wight Knight by yourself...?"

Alice hummed to herself as she tilted her head slightly in thought. "Mmm~... I guess so~ I'm really good with a sword, see?"

She took her sword out of its hilt, and showed it to them. It was freshly cleaned (she had cleaned it before she went back to Erinn's that one day; she had a feeling Erinn would have a heart attack if she knew that Alice slaughtered countless monsters), but you could still faintly tell that there was blood on it before.

The royal pair stared at her nervously. King Schott spoke to her in a soft tone that you use with children that you do not want to upset.

"What's your name, lass? Do your parents know you're here?"

"My name's Alice, your majesty. I can't go home unless I help you out." King Schott scowled, _Who would send their young daughter to her premature death like this?!_

He sighed, giving up. Maybe she'd really do the job. "All right, but pay attention. The Wight Knight has been trying to kidnap my own daughter right here! He demands that she be delivered to him by a certain time tonight, and I fear it may be some sort of trap, which is why I wanted to employ a.." He glanced at her quickly, choosing his words carefully, "...lovely lass such as you to go and defeat him for me. He's waiting at Loch Storn."

"Sure thing, your majesty~ I'll get this done in no time~" Neither of them were convinced, and they warily watched Alice skip out of the room. Simona swiftly turned to her father, giving him a look of disapproval.

"Father! How could you just send that little girl out into battle?! She is surely going to die out there, and you just let her go!"

"There's nothing I could do! You heard her, she can't go home unless she helps out! And doesn't that essentially mean that her parents don't want her to come home?... Tch, I do hope she just gives up and goes to live with some nice couple. She seemed like a good gal."

The two of them looked in the direction that Alice had left, worrying for her well being, despite only just having met her.

* * *

"This Wight Knight seems to be stirring up quite a heap of trouble for the town, hm? Perfect for us, we can just knock him out for good, and then reap the benefits! Benevolessence, money, everything! All the pieces are falling into place, just for us! Let's get going!" Stella pumped her fist, and went back in Alice's pocket.

"...Well, let's not go rushing in to a battle without preparing, Stella. First, Let's go back to Erinn's and tell her the plan."


	5. Chapter 5

"YOU VOLUNTEERED TO DEFEAT THAT DANGEROUS WIGHT KNIGHT?!" Erinn shrieked at the top of her lungs, killing everyone's eardrums, "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

"I was thinking about justice?" Alice peered out from behind the counter. _Damn, Erinn is scary._

Patty came out of the back room, Marine and Iris trailing behind her. Sheila was helping out in the kitchen again; some people had come to eat in the inn.

"Hey, calm down. What's this about?" Patty crossed her arms, trying to placate Erinn's hot fury.

"She volunteered for that wight knight business! She's going to go up against that dangerous knight guy!" Erinn toned it down a little, but it was still clear that she was pissed.

Patty looked at the hiding Alice, and burst out laughing. "I had a feeling you would do that the second I sent you out. Well, how about I loan you my girls, as repayment for helping me out in the Hexagon."

Alice poked her head out, and grinned even wider. "That would be great!"

_**This seems... interesting.**_

Alice was slightly startled, but didn't let it show. She knew that voice anywhere, but... it'd been such a long time since she'd last heard from _her_.

Marine takes in the situation before her, and sighs. _It's so typical for Patty to volunteer us for things without our input. Looks like I'm involved in another troublesome situation._ She looks at Alice, who is jumping around joyfully (although the real reason she's jumping around is to escape from Erinn). _Well, it's not like I can just watch her go off to her death, right?_

Patty turned back towards the two, and pointed at them. "Hey! Iris! Go get your guys' stuff! I put it all on the table in your room. While you're at it, get Sheila from the kitchen, will 'ya?"

Iris let out a barely noticeable sigh, and walks back towards the kitchen. Alice scampers over towards Marine, and twirls around her, laughing.

"Alice, what are you doing?" Marine stares waaay down at her, one eyebrow raised. Alice gestured for her to bend down, and Marine complied.

"**She** looks forward to traveling with you." Alice's voice took on a bone chilling tone, though it was just for that one word. She tilted her head, that happy-go-lucky grin on her face, except now it looked... off somehow.

Marine blinked, _Was that just my imagination?_

Iris came out wearing her traditional martial arts clothes, and was carrying a set of iron claws, an iron lance, chain mail, and a small leather dress. Trailing behind her was Sheila, who was also wearing some chain mail, and was carrying a long wand with a large red gem in it's hold.

Sheila squealed, "Ooh~! We're going to go on a trip?! It's been such a long time! You guys never let me go anywhere!"

Patty watched her warily, "That's because you always go over the top and end up getting yourself lost somewhere."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do." Marine interjected, Iris nodding in agreement.

Sheila gasped, "Iris, not you too!"

"...I'm afraid it's quite true, Sheila. You have a terrible sense of direction, and it has put us in more dangerous situations than you can likely remember."

Sheila pouted, crossing her arms in protest. Alice stood in the background, giggling at the scene playing out before her. Patty took the dress from Iris, and handed it to Alice.

"I think this should fit you nicely. I had it when I was around your age." Alice was about to snicker at the unlikely statement, but quickly stopped herself before she did so.

_Wait a moment, is that a dress? _Alice peered closer at it, "...It's lovely!" She spoke more quietly now, "Now, if only I could get my hands on a flower... Oh, but they had them outside the city, did they not?... Yeah, then I guess I'll be getting one when we leave."

_If I collect all the necessary items, maybe I can convince __**her **__to come back out. __**She **__shouldn't be all cooped up like this, it's quite unhealthy. All the more better that we're traveling with these nice girls; maybe she can finally make a friend other than me (I don't even really count, to be honest)._

It was at this moment that Alice noticed that everyone was staring at her. Marine voiced up, "Will you stop mumbling? I want to hurry and get this over with."

Alice looked up at her (one of three) taller companion, "Oh, yeah, let's go."

* * *

After Alice changed her clothes, the four of them walked out of town, stopping just outside of the town's walls.

Marine pulled out a world map, "Okay, so where are we going to meet up with this knight guy, Alice?...Alice?"

The three of them looked around, and saw Alice crouched over a small field of flowers, mumbling to herself. Marine walked over to her, and leaned over to see what she was doing.

"Alice, stop fooling around." Alice tilted her head way up to look Marine in the eyes.

"Oh, good, it's you, Marine. Which flower do you think is prettier?" Alice shoved two flowers into Marine's face: a pale white orchid, and a blood red amaryllis.

Marine wrinkled her nose, "...Does it really matter?"

"Well, duh! This is a super important decision! On one hand, I think this orchid is exceptionally beautiful; it's so pure and elegant! But on the other hand, this amaryllis is my favorite color, and shows how delicate life is. Don't you think so?"

"...I guess you're right?" Marine didn't really understand what Alice was saying, she just wanted her to make a decision so that they could carry on.

Alice nodded vigorously, "Of course I am!...Yeah, it'll do quite nicely." She delicately places the amaryllis in her hair, and twirls around. "Well, what do you think?"

"You look really cute, Alice!" Sheila clapped, giggling, but then her eyes widened, and she looked closer at Alice. "...Excuse my asking, but have the two of us ever met before? You look really familiar."

_What is she talking about...? _Alice stared at her, hard. "...I don't think so. Maybe you're mistaking me for somebody else."

Sheila hummed, tilting her head. Alice took this opportunity to swipe Marine's map, and rotated it around a bunch, not knowing how to read a map.

"Anyway, we're supposed to go to Loch Storn. Does anyone know which way it is?" Iris gently took the map away from Alice, and looked at it herself.

"...It looks like Loch Storn is up to the north of here. Shall we go?" Alice suddenly shifted so that she was staring up at the sky, raising her arms out towards it for seemingly no reason.

"Alice... what are you even doing." Marine sighed, slightly annoyed.

"I'm trying to go north, but it's not working. It'd be easier if I had my wings..." Alice mumbled to herself.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing! C'mon, let's get going~!"

* * *

The quartet make their way up to Loch Storn, with Marine and Iris closely protecting Sheila, and Alice slicing up all the monsters that came her way. Eventually, the monsters seemed to learned to just stay away from the group if they wanted to live. The three mortals watch Alice skipping around with glee, seeming to enjoy fighting.

Iris leaned in closer to Marine and Sheila, whispering. "Miss Alice is quite skilled at her swordsmanship, isn't she?"

"I know, right? I wonder who taught her, maybe it was her parents? Ooh! Maybe this is a way for her to prove herself to her parents, because they're actually really strict, and want her to lead some kind of hard life; like being an Imperial Knight or something, and she has to go around helping people to show that she can live up to their expectations, because in the end, she actually only wants their approval!" Sheila squealed, getting lost in her own odd fantasies. Iris sighed, and shook her head at her younger friend.

Marine gave a short laugh, "Sheila, that is the most obscure thing I've ever heard... but, y'know, I wouldn't be surprised..."

"What do you mean?"

Alice's cheery voice brought the three of them out of their little world, "Hey! Is this the place? It looks like a nice little clearing~"

Marine looks up, and sees where Alice is pointing. It was a small path that leads into a small clearing that overlooks the river that separates Coffinwell from Stornway.

"Yes, that's it." The four of them make their way into the clearing, and looked around. By now, it was late in the evening, and the sun had already set. Night time was rapidly approaching, but the Wight Knight was nowhere to be seen.

Stella pops out of Alice's pocket, "Well this is just flappin' fantastic! I can't see head nor tail of that Wight Knight guy! He better have not be standing us up!"

Sheila looks over at Alice with wide eyes, "Is that a fairy?!"

"Oh flap! How can you possibly see me?!" Stella freaked out, flailing everywhere.

Alice glanced at Marine and Iris, but they didn't seem to be doing anything. Marine noticed Alice staring at them, and spoke.

"Hm, is Sheila seeing something again? She's been able to see supernatural things ever since the three of us were kids."

"Oh. Well, this is Stella, my... companion of sorts." Alice gestured towards Stella, who made a fabulous pose.

"You can see her, too? Awesome! Now Marine and Iris can't say I'm crazy anymore!" Sheila did a little dance.

"...Why do you have a fairy as a companion, Miss Alice?" Iris questioned, confusion laced in her voice.

"...Oh, uh..." Alice didn't get to finish her sentence, because at that very moment, a loud, but strong, raspy voice rang out from above. The girls look up, and see a knight in black armor riding an almost ghostly looking horse.

"Halt! Who are you lot? You are not my Princess! Give me my darling Mona!" Without even waiting for an explanation, the knight jumped off of the cliff he was on, landing right on Alice.

The petals of the amaryllis scattered everywhere.

* * *

**... I really like the name of 'Amaryllis'. Maybe I'll use it for something else I've got planned in the future... (but only after I finish this, and my one shots! I refuse to do any more until I'm done, or else I'll get bored of one and pursue the other)**


	6. Chapter 6

**NO WORRIES, MY LITTLE SERVANTS! I HAVE NOW FIXED EVERYTHING.**

**Levels that I used for this boss battle:  
**

**Alice- 12  
**

**The others are all level 10.**

* * *

First thing the others did was try and pull Alice out from underneath the Knight's horse's hoof. It was, however, to no avail.

"Alice?!" Marine freaked out, trying to shake Alice back to life. After wasting ten minutes, they realized that it was probably no use, and stepped back, glaring at her killer.

"YOU JUST KILLED A LITTLE GIRL, YOU MEANIE!" Sheila shrieked, not being very good with insults.

"Sheila, calm down. Let's just bash this unjust individual into submission, as revenge for Miss Alice." Iris's eyes narrowed into slits, glaring at the Wight Knight, who hadn't moved since he landed on the poor girl.

"I agree, let's fucking murder the shit out of him." Marine grunted, pulling out her iron lance to fight. The Wight Knight also pulled out a lance, but he was unable to advance forward.

...Suddenly, they could hear a metallic... crunch? The horse screamed in pain, trying to move away one of its hooves...

Of course, this hoof was the one that was trapping Alice to the ground. The metal gear encasing the horse's hoof had been crushed to cut into the horse's flesh. Slowly, but surely, the horse was forced to stand on its two hind legs... until Alice flipped the horse over her shoulder, sending the Knight crashing to the ground. Alice stood there, with her eyes shut, face pulled down into a furious frown; her body was radiating a weird blackish aura.

"You just RUINED my flower... and my dress!" She slipped her sword out of its hilt, and slashed at the Knight's face.

The other three were... stunned, to say the least. They didn't do anything but watch... or at least, until the Knight tried to stab Iris. Then, Sheila cast a buff spell on herself, since she's the 'healer'. Marine and Iris charged in (but they made sure not to get in the way of Alice's crazy swinging of her sword). Alice just kept furiously swinging her sword around, not seeming to care what it collided with. Luckily, the others were smart enough to stay clear of her.

The Wight Knight tried stabbing the three normal girls multiple times, and managed to land two hits on Iris.

"Iris! Are you okay?!" Sheila was fidgeting, hesitating as to what to do next. Should she try to increase Alice's defence, since Alice doesn't really seem to be thinking of anything, or should she help Iris?

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Sheila didn't buy that for a second, and casted buff on Iris instead. It didn't even matter, anyway, since Alice wasn't getting hit at all- oh...

The Wight Knight's lance started crackling with electrical energy, and he stabbed Alice right in the gut... but she managed to stop him with her hands (although her hands were now a little bit burnt). Right after that, Marine landed the final blow, trying to break through his armor with her lance, but not fully succeeding. Even then, she still managed to defeat the local terror, which is pretty impressive.

Alice noticed something fall from a pouch on the horse... a pair of iron gauntlets.

_He's not going to need those in jail._ She snagged them, putting them on her own hands, gripping them just to feel up the metal fabric. It was nice and cold, just like her favorite hiding spot...

The Knight fell to his knees, staring at the ground in front of Alice (who hid her hands behind her back to act like she didn't just semi-rob him). "I don't understand... Why would the Princess send somebody, especially YOU, in her place? Has my beloved Mona forsaken me? Did our promise of forever mean nothing to her?"

Stella snorted, reappearing from Alice's body. "You got any idea what he's on about, Alice? Who's this 'Mona'? The princess of Stornway is called Simona, right? Not Mona. This knight's got a nail loose, if you ask me."

The Wight Knight started, staring straight at Stella, "Is... Is that really true?"

Stella freaked out, "Yikes! How can you see me?! You gave me such a flappin' shock!" She returned back to Alice's body.

The Wight Knight now turned back to Alice, who was rubbing her eyes in a tired fashion. "You, tell me the truth. Is the girl in the castle really not called Princess Mona?"

Alice nodded with a yawn. The Knight drooped his head in despair, "Oh, woe is me! So she wasn't my princess after all... Actually, now that I think about it, she wasn't wearing the royal necklace of Brigadoom..."

"...Of what?" Sheila whispers to Iris, who shrugs.

"I don't know."

The Knight gets up, and turns to face the river separating Stornway from Coffinwell. "Yes... I was in a very deep sleep... But then the earthquake happened, and I awoke in this strange land, feeling as if I had been given freedom from some type of... prison. I completely lost my memory, badly enough to the point that I didn't even know who I was at all... but then I saw the princess, and it brought everything back to me... Memories of Mona and I."

He turns to Alice, and bows. "I remembered that I am the Wight Knight, and that Mona is the princess of my homeland of Brigadoom. She and I had sworn undying love for each other, and were to be wed..."

Stella reappeared just to snicker at him, "So you then went and confused Princess Simona for Princess Mona? Ha! They'd better be the splitting image of each other..."

Ignoring Stella, the Wight Knight was deep in thought, "Hmmm... I must do the honorable thing. I must return to the castle of Stornway and apologize for my mistake post-haste!"

"That's probably not the best course of action, Knight. The King's pretty pissed that you tried to kidnap his daughter and all... that could make things worse." Marine appeared next to Alice, leaning on her head.

"Ahh... you think that it'd make things worse?... Yes, I fear that you are most undoubtedly correct. Well, then maybe you four will take a message on my behalf? Just tell them that I won't go near that place ever again, so long as I shall live. I'm certain that the real Princess Mona is waiting for me back in Brigadoom. All I have to do now, is find my way home. Good day, thanks for helping me out." The Knight bows, and rides his steed off into the night.

"...I'm tired. Marine~ Can you carry meee~?" Alice didn't wait for an answer, instead just climbing onto Marine, and clamping her arms around her neck until she was certain that she wouldn't fall off, and then promptly fell asleep.

Marine looks down at her personal baggage, _...Well, that was unexpected. Little girls these days are seriously made of tough stuff... but... I'm glad she didn't die, even if that whole thing was rather... questionable._

She sighs, and turns to tell the others that they're going back to Erinn's for the night.

_I guess I'll just bring it up tomorrow. Alice is friendly and sweet, there's no way she won't answer honestly._


	7. Chapter 7

**First of all, if you haven't noticed, this chapter says CHAPTER 7. I changed the author's note to chapter 6, so if you didn't notice it, you might want to read it first. Just sayin'.  
**

**I haven't got the Lena oneshot done yet, so you get three chapters of this today! I have exams this week... *sob***

* * *

"Alice! You're back!" Erinn reached out her arms to snuggle Alice, but halted when Marine glared at her, and made the 'shhh!' gesture.

"She fell asleep, so we're just going to report to the King tomorrow." Erinn nods, and leads them downstairs to the staff's rooms. She tries to convince the three to let Alice sleep in her bedroom, but, fearing that Erinn might find a hoof mark anywhere on Alice's body, they refuse and escape to the room that Iris shares with Sheila, since it has a bathroom that is connected to Marine's room.

Sheila let out her long held breath, "We're so lucky that Erinn's too busy being the hostess! Gosh, my heart is still pounding...!"

"Should I go make some tea, Sheila?" Iris smiled at her friend, who shivered at the suggestion.

Marine stepped in, after putting the sleeping Alice in her bed, "No! For the love of the Almighty himself, **please** don't make any kind of congestible substance ever again! The last time you made ANYTHING, you gave everyone stomach trouble for weeks!"

"...You didn't need to be so harsh, Marine..." Iris pouted, and trailed her finger around in the dust in the corner of the room.

"No, I really did. You need blunt advice sometimes, and I'm the girl for the job. I love 'ya and all, but you are a terrible cook. Now good night, I'm going to bed."

Sheila waved at her as she walked back into her bedroom, and closed the door to the bathroom softly. Marine stared at her little guest who was resting on her bed. Since Marine has her own room, there's only one bed.

_Oh well, we'll just share. It's not a big deal anyway, we're both girls._ Marine chuckled softly as she situated herself between Alice and the wall. Alice instantly clung onto her, like the little child she is.

* * *

_Marine sits against a large tree in the clouds. She had no idea where she was, but she felt a certain bliss, just watching the clouds go by. Oddly enough, there were little angels running around; the boys having mock sword fights, the girls gathered into little groups, gossiping and giggling at the boys._

_"...It's really peaceful here." Marine sighed contentedly._

_She heard rather dark laughter, followed by an oddly deep, yet unmistakably female, dark muttering, "__**'Das wha' they want'cha 'ta think, kid. 'Dis place is 'orrible. I hate it here."**_

_Startled, Marine turns to see a tiny child playing with a doll of some sort. How had she not noticed this little girl here before? _

_The girl had stunning silver hair that was so bright it was nearly pure white, and when the girl turned to peer up into Marine's face, Marine almost woke up from the shock. The girl had one pure white eyeball in her right socket, and the left eye was almost similar; no pupil, no iris. The only difference was that there was a red lightning-shaped zigzag in her eyeball. Marine wondered if this girl was blind._

_Again, the little girl shocked her by speaking, "__**'M not blind, kid. I can see'ya just fine.**__"_

_"...W-why are you over here? Shouldn't you be over there with the other girls?" Marine pointed to the angelic girls, who were now silently watching the two of them._

_"__**'M not allowed 'ta play with d'em, 'cause I got no wings.**__" She points to her back, which is indeed bare of any wings. "__**Papa's gunna' make sum fo' me, 'n then I can join him down with 'da mortals.**__" _

_She points off vaguely into the distance as if it were obvious where she was pointing. Marine can't see exactly where she's pointing, so she gets up and walks to the edge of the platform. Her eyes widen at the view; she can't see the ground, it's all clouds for miles as far as she can see. She hears soft footsteps coming from behind her._

_"__**If 'ya see 'ma Papa, tell 'im 'dat 'm gettin' tired 'o waitin', 'kay?**__" Marine didn't quite understand what the girl was asking exactly, until she felt a small pair of hands roughly shove her off of the tall building._

* * *

"Maaaaaaaaarine! Wakey wakey!" Sheila pounded on the door, trying to wake up her friend. It's a wonder that Alice was able to get up way before her, what with having been trampled by a horse the day before.

Marine jolted forward, her body coated in sweat. _That... what was that?_

She shook her head. _It was just a dream. Calm down. Let's go take a bath, talk to Alice, and then we'll report to the King._

She made her way into the bathroom, locked both doors, and let the water run, soaking herself in bliss as she tried to decide what all she should ask their little charge.

. . . .

"Morning, Marine~!" Alice sings as Marine makes her way into the kitchen. Marine stares at the little cheery girl, who was munching on a fried egg sandwich that Erinn probably made for her.

"...Yes, good morning, Alice. Are you feeling alright?" Alice raised an eyebrow, her smile dropping for just a moment.

"...I'm fine, why do you ask?"

Perplexed, Marine leans onto the counter where Alice is seated. "Well, y'know. You got trampled by a _horse_ and all..." Her voice was a whisper, just in case Erinn were to walk into the room.

"What are you talking about? I wasn't trampled by anything; I never have. You're weird, Marine~" Alice laughs at the now thoroughly confused Marine. "Are you sure you didn't just dream it?"

_Maybe I did dream it up... How could a little girl even flip a horse? Geez, what was I thinking!_ Marine shook her head. "I must have. I had such an odd dream last night."

Before Alice could ask what it was, Sheila bolted into the room, tackling Alice off her stool, hugging her to death.

"GOOOOOOOOOD MORNING, ALICE~!" Iris calmly walked into the kitchen behind her.

"Indeed, good morning to the both of you. Sheila, I don't think Miss Alice is breathing anymore. You should let go of her." Sheila looked at Alice, who was now blue in the face, and let go immediately, standing up.

"S-sorry, Alice." Alice sat up, shook her head to clear her mind of the rampaging thoughts, and grinned at Sheila, making the girl relax immediately. After all, who couldn't feel relaxed after being grinned at by one of the cutest little girls they've ever seen?

"It's okay, Sheila. Can we go to the castle now~?" She turned to Marine, and gave her Alice's own puppy dog face (which doesn't include the eyes).

Marine sighed, "Alright, fine. Go get dressed, and then we'll go."

The entire time this scene had taken place, Alice was only wearing a pair of underwear and some socks. Somehow, nobody had noticed until Alice had asked to leave.

Alice squealed, and ran back to Marine's room. The three remaining girls wondered if there was any danger from Alice running around in that state.


	8. Chapter 8

The whole walk to the castle, Alice was excitedly hopping around, chanting "I'm going home~ I'm going home~"

Marine shook her head at the young minstrel (for some reason, Alice had previously insisted that she wasn't just a kid). There was a chance that the King wouldn't reward them at all, since they hadn't exactly exterminated the Wight Knight; they had even let him go! She hoped that wasn't the case, though, since it might crush Alice's little heart.

Sheila was laughing and skipping with Alice, tripping over Alice's feet several times, since Alice was much quicker than she. Her speed amazed Sheila, since she was always teased for her slowness as a child back in the academy. Vaguely, Sheila wondered what kind of upbringing Alice had, but was so lost in her fantasies she didn't see Alice stop, and toppled the two of them onto the pavement.

Iris just walked behind everyone, silently watching the three. She didn't want to say anything that may alarm her two childhood friends, but... Iris was getting a rather... _sinister_ vibe coming from Alice ever since yesterday. However, she sincerely wished that it was just her own overprotectiveness of Sheila, because Alice is rather pleasant to have around, since Sheila can relate to her. It's nice to have somebody else that can see the supernatural like Sheila, so that not everybody can make fun of her anymore. Hopefully.

By now, the four of them had arrived at the castle gates. Alice grinned, and waved at the two soldiers (who almost flipped their shit at the sight of her; they had just seen her leave town yesterday!), who let her in immediately, telling the group that the King and Queen were awaiting them in the Throne Room upstairs. Alice shook their hands, and bounded off, leading the rest of them up to the Throne Room.

Sheila was amazed at how big it was, _It's almost as big as the academy! OOH, THERE'S A PRIEST RIGHT OVER THERE-_ (was held back from running off by Iris)

Iris loved the architecture, it was quite exquisite. _I wonder if it's like the castle back in Gleeba. I shall have to ask for a tour later._

Marine hated it. "Let's just hurry up and finish our business here, so we can leave." She muttered, much to the dismay of her pals.

Alice turned, and tapped her foot (although she still looked cheery). "C'monnnn! We don't have all day, guys! The King must be waiting for my return!"

Finally, they made it up the stairs, but just as they were about to enter the Throne Room, they caught sight of the Princess standing in front of her parents on the throne. It looked like a serious matter, so they decided to stay quiet and wait (Marine had to restrain Alice).

"Mother, Father... I have decided that I will answer to the knight's demands." The Queen immediately burst into heavy sobs. Sheila felt bad for the Queen; her mother was always getting sad like that.

"No! Simona, please!" King Schott leaned over towards his wife, and gave her a soft, yet stern look.

"There is nothing to be crying over, you silly woman! I'll never allow her to go!" He groaned, "Ach, these two will be the death of me..."

He turned back to the front of the room, and saw Alice skipping towards them, her party following behind her, with a certain somebody rubbing her arm (suspicious bite marks were visible).

_SHE'S ALIVE?! _King Schott stared in shock at the little girl, but still stood up. "A-Ah! It's little Alice! I've been waiting on the edge of my throne for your return, child. Approach the throne!" And sat back down.

Alice hopped up the steps, her taller companions idling in the background.

Princess Simona let out a large sigh of relief, the little girl had been haunting her mind ever since she had seen her off yesterday. "Oh, thank the Almighty for your return, Alice! I can't tell you how glad I am to see you safe!"

"Indeed, it's good to see you back, alive and well, Alice. So, tell me child. What has become of the Wight Knight?"

Alice tells King Schott about what happened (that she remembers) with the Wight Knight.

King Schott grunted, "So, what you're telling me is that he just lost his memory, and mistook my Simona for his fiancée? Not only that, but he told you that he's going to return to Brigadoom now, so he won't ever be bothering us ever again?"

"Yep!" Alice chirped. _Wow, this is easier than I thought it'd be! I thought he wouldn't believe me-_

"And you believed him!?" King Schott roared at her, alarming Marine to the point that she was going to attack him if he touched Alice. "That sounds like a scam if I've ever heard one! That blethering skite can't be trusted! And he even tricked a young girl like you into believing him...!"

Princess Simona frowned at her father, "Father! Why must you have such a low opinion of him? What has he ever done to you?"

"Hmph! For one thing, I've never even heard of Brigadoom. That proves that he must be lying!" He sighed, and looked at Alice, who was still slightly smiling. He was going to feel bad about this later. "So, Alice, he's the situation. I'm positive that that blasted miscreant will be back here soon enough to go after my Simona again. I hate to say this, but until you put a stop to him once and for all, you will have to forget about trying to collect a reward of any kind."

Iris had to clap a hand over Marine's mouth and restrain her, since now Marine was practically frothing at the mouth from her anger. _HOW DARE HE TELL A LITTLE GIRL, TO HER FACE NO LESS, THAT HER RISKING HER LIFE WASN'T ENOUGH, AND THAT SHE HAS TO GO BACK INTO THE FRAY! ASSHOLE! HE'S LUCKY IRIS IS HERE...!_

Luckily, Princess Simona was also outraged, and she didn't have anyone to restrain her. "Why must you refuse to believe his story, Father?! If he really is on his own, miles away from home, it must be terrible for him!"

That certainly struck a chord in Alice, who had almost the exact situation, minus the fiancée part. _Well, at least the Observatory really exists._

King Schott narrowed his eyes at his daughter, who did not flinch. "Och, lassie! I'm doing all of this for your protection. Do try to understand your father."

Princess Simona's eyes widened, and she took off out of the Throne Room without another word. Her father stood up, yelling after her.

It was then that Marine was able to force Iris off of her, and picked Alice up like a child, hugging her closely. "We will take our leave now, Your Majesty."

She turned, and started stomping out of the Throne Room, Iris and Sheila trailing behind her. It was not a good idea to bother Marine when she's in a foul mood.

However, that didn't stop Princess Simona, who was standing just out of view outside of the Throne Room. "Alice!"

Alice peered over Marine's shoulder at the girl, and tugged on Marine's hair until she stopped. "Yes?"

"There's something I must talk to you about, but nobody must overhear us. Come to my room, it's just out that door and to the east." She pointed to the door that lied just to the south of the stairs, "It's about Brigadoom."

With that, the Princess quietly made her way out of the castle, and out to her bedroom. Alice looked up at Marine, who was struggling not to look at Sheila or Alice, lest she be guilt tripped into going. She wanted nothing more to do with royalty.

Alice grabbed Marine's face, and forced her to look Alice in the eyes. "Please, Marine~?"

Marine groaned, knowing she was going to lose this fight. "Damn it, fine. FINE! We'll go listen to her story, just this once, okay? Then we're going back to Erinn's."

Sheila and Alice cheered, and Alice gave Marine a quick peck on the cheek before she leaped out of Marine's arms, and raced Sheila out the door, leaving a smirking Iris behind.

"What are you smirking for, Iris?" Marine narrowed her eyes at her taller friend, who just smirked larger.

"Oh, it's nothing."


	9. Chapter 9

Alice quietly knocked onto the Princess's door, who peered through a crack in the door, and let the four of them in.

"Good, it's just the four of you, right? Make yourselves at home. I'm sorry to have to ask you to come here like this. If Father overheard us, he would most definitely try to interfere with us."

"So, what did you need to see us about, You Highness?" Iris smiled gently at Princess Simona, who was dazed for just a moment.

"O-oh! You see, I have actually heard of Brigadoom before. I remember it from a nursery rhyme one of my maids used to sing for me when I was a wee girl. Practically your age, Alice!" Again, Alice wanted to laugh at the unlikeliness of that.

"...Seriously? Brigadoom is only part of a nursery rhyme? What's the rhyme?" Marine grumbled, silently steaming that her service to royalty seemed to be continuing. The Princess flinched at Marine's tone.

"I-I don't remember it... b-but the maid must remember! She's not here anymore, though." Princess Simona squirmed under Marine's glare.

Sheila came to the Princess's rescue, "Well, I'm sure that the song will give us a clue as to where Brigadoom might be! It has to be real, since the Wight Knight is clearly not just a fairytail! Where is that maid now, uh... Princess?"

Princess Simona smiled, "Oh, you can just call me Simona. Formal titles are a chore, are they not?"

"Indeed. I hate being called by mine." Alice nodded sagely, surprising everyone. Then, noticing her slip up, grinned stupidly. "Er, I meant that it must be boring...!"

"Oh, yes. It is. Anyway, answering your question, the maid has gone back to live in Zere quite some time ago. It's a tiny village just to the west, and slightly to the north, of Loch Storn." Simona bowed, clasping her hands together, "Oh, please help the Wight Knight, I beg you! I just know that he's not the evil character that Father thinks he is! He just requires help. Alice, please! Please, just do whatever you can. I know this is probably much to ask of a small girl like you, but I have nobody else to turn to."

"It's no problem, Simona~" Alice chirped, shaking the girl's hands up and down. "I'll do my best to help~ And I have Marine, Iris, and Sheila with me, so I can't possibly fail~"

Two certain individuals turned a slight shade of pink at the praise, and Iris grinned, patting Alice on the head. "Of course we'll be helping you, Alice. Now, let's stop back at Erinn's real quick, and then we'll leave, okay? Don't worry, Your Highness, we'll help Sir Knight to the best of our abilities."

After they had exited the castle, Alice turned, grinned, and jumped into Iris's arms, snuggling their cheeks together. Iris concluded that Alice must really be one for skin ship.

* * *

(Omake)

Before they left, Iris decided that it would be a good idea to stock up on supplies, since they will most likely be wandering around for quite some time, looking for the fabled Brigadoom. She pushed Sheila and Alice out of the inn, assigning them the duty of retrieving supplies.

"Okay, here's the list of things we need. Don't come back until you have everything, alright?" The two girls nodded in fear of Iris's seemingly harmless smile.

"Good, see you two later." And then there were two.

Sheila linked arms with Alice, "This way, we won't get separated in the Market, okay? Stay with me~"

Alice smiled, and nodded. "Okay~"

The two of them skipped towards the Market, with Sheila humming a tune of some sort. Alice thought it was lovely.

. . .

They had only been in the Market for ten minutes, and Sheila had already somehow lost the little girl she was paired with. Sheila had just turned for a second to retrieve the medicinal herbs that Iris requested, but when she turned back around, Alice was nowhere in sight.

_Oh my god, what if she was kidnapped?! Erinn will kill me!_ Sheila freaked out, scrambling around the market. After a half hour, she returned back to where she started from, and saw (who else?) Alice standing around, looking around confusedly.

Sheila marched up to Alice, and grabbed her arm. "Where did you go?!"

Alice blinked, and held up her bag, which, upon opening, revealed a bunch of bottles of holy water. "I was just stocking up on these..."

Sheila looked at the holy waters confusedly, and then back to Alice, with question marks visible in her eyes. "...What do you need holy water for?"

Alice shrugged, and slung the bag back over her back, "It's a secret."

Sheila would not fully understand the reasoning for this purchase until much later


	10. Chapter 10

**GAHHHHH! I only have one upload this week because I'm buried in work this week, and last week. It turns out I was TOTALLY FUCKING WRONG about when my exams were. Only my spanish one was last week (I failed the shit out of it, and had to retake it), so... the others are this week. I have Friday off though, so I'll work harder. ;n;**

**On an unrelated note, has anyone else heard of Heartache 101? It's rad as fuck.**

* * *

"Alice, make sure you don't get separated from the rest okay? And. . ." Erinn had Alice sitting on a stool, listening to a long lecture on what not to do while they were out on their journey to find Brigadoom. Patty was shaking her head, feeling sorry for the poor girl.

"Miss Erinn, your worries are unnecessary. Marine will be watching out for her, so can we please leave now? We have a long ways to go to get to Zere." Iris sighed. Alice's face beamed at Iris like she was the only light in a tunnel of darkness.

"...I suppose you're right." Erinn looked down at Alice, who was itching to leave. "...Fine. Go on."

Alice cheered, and launched herself onto Erinn, spinning them around continuously. "Yay~ Love you, Erinn~!"

After that, Alice jumped over to where Marine and the others were, and climbed up onto Marine's shoulder.

"Let's go~" Marine shudders, feeling Erinn's harsh glare as they leave.

_Erinn is really scary._

* * *

As they got further north of Loch Storn, they came across a cornfield. Alice found extreme delight in rolling around in the stalks. It made it difficult for Marine to keep track of her, but you just had to follow the blood trails and dead monster bodies. Eventually, Alice had to stop rolling around, because there was an elevation change. She, however, didn't know that, and rolled right into the dirt wall, letting out a loud 'OOMPH!'.

When the others finally caught up with her, she hadn't moved at all. They were slightly surprised to see the girl covered in blood, but, by the smell of it, it was just monster blood.

"Ugh! You smell terrible, Alice." Marine crinkled her nose, picking her up. Alice raised both her eyebrows, and tilted her head, making some blood drip onto Marine's hand.

"Really? I thought I smelled fine...Is it really that bad?" Alice saw Sheila nod her head really quickly, with her nose plugged. "Aww. Well, I guess I can just bathe in the inn, or something... Zere should have an inn, if I remember correctly..." She mumbled, not noticing the weird looks she was getting. Alice dusted herself off, and they continued walking.

Iris tried to make small (yet prying) talk as they walked the short remaining distance to Zere. "Have you been to Zere before, Miss Alice?"

"Nope."

"...Then how do you know they have an inn?" Sheila tilted her head, eager to learn about her new friend.

"What?... Oh! I heard about it from the adults in my village. They travel a lot. It's a tradition of sorts." Alice spoke quick, short sentences as she slashed through a few more boppin' badgers.

"What about your parents, kid? Do they travel too?" Marine grabbed the back of Alice's dress, holding her up in the air to prevent Alice from fighting anymore monsters. Alice flailed her arms and legs, trying to escape.

Alice paused in her flailing to think over the question, and shook her head. "Nope, I don't have parents."

Marine felt a pang of guilt for even bringing it up, even if it wasn't meant to be like _**that**_. "Oh, uh... sorry."

"Don't be, I never met them. Good riddance!" Marine thought for sure that she heard a snarl, but it was probably just her own. "Oh, hey! There's Zere's front gates! Let's go~"

Alice kicked her flailing into high-gear, and managed to escape Marine's grip, ripped through the dirt into the village.

The three remaining girls nonchalantly continued walking, but Marine started running the moment they heard screaming about a blood child. She scooped up Alice, and jogged to the inn. Iris and Sheila idled behind to apologize and explain/lie to the bystanders what was going on.

* * *

Marine viciously scrubbed Alice's hair, trying to get out all the dried blood that was now clinging to her skin. Alice had puffed out her cheeks when Marine was cleaning her face, and Marine had to keep in her "aww's". Getting it off the skin was the easy part, even though Alice squirmed quite a bit. Getting it out of her hair was proving to be much more difficult; it was like the blood had fused with her hair!

"Sheesh, how many monsters did you kill?! There's just no end!" Marine groaned, working her way through yet another layer of dried blood. At least it seemed to be the final layer. "Well, at least you don't smell like shit anymore..."

"Am I done yet~? I'm sooo tired!" Alice whined, splashing the dirty bath water for the tenth time.

"Almost. Let me just clean the underside of your hair..." Marine lifted up Alice's messy, short hair, and saw that somehow, blood had also gotten on her neck. Crinkling her nose at the sight, Marine focused her energy on scrubbing Alice's neck. Alice jerked around alot for that, bursting into a laughing fit.

_Her neck's ticklish, huh? I'm going to remember that. _Marine snorted, scrubbing harder to get back at Alice for wasting her time. Eventually, Marine broke through the final layer of blood, but was stunned at what she saw.

There, tattooed to the back of Alice's neck, were two tiny black wings. That wasn't what surprised Marine. No, not at all. What surprised her, was that, for some reason, it gave Marine an extreme feeling of foreboding.


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry I didn't update last week. School cancelled a bunch of times over the last two weeks, so my exams were stretched out.**

* * *

"Nn? Why'd you stop, Marine?" Alice's voice jolts Marine out of her thoughts, and she looks at the child in front of her warily.

"Oh, it's... nothing. I just found some little wings tattooed on the back of your neck-" Marine was cut off by Alice slapping her hand over the back of her neck, standing up, and hopping around excitedly.

"Really?! I do!? I can't believe it's still there...! This is so fantastic!" Alice's little cheer fest is interrupted by Alice tripping over an extra bar of soap and smacking her forehead against the cold unforgiving floor. Marine stares at her for just a few moments, before scrambling to her feet to aid her fallen comrade. No need to worry, though, since Alice popped right back up, burst out of the bathroom (into the bedroom), and started rolling all over the carpeted floor.

"...Miss Alice, you're getting water all over the room." Iris raised an eyebrow at the show in front of her, having shielded Sheila's eyes (for what reason, nobody knows. They're all girls, after all).

"But this is so greaaaat~!" Alice squealed, "My wings are still there, even though they're not _there_!"

"That makes absolutely no sense at all." Marine face palmed, and took out the nightgown that Erinn had packed for Alice.

"It doesn't need to! It's our symbol! Very important!" Alice threw her arms up so that Marine could slip her nightgown on, and once that was finished, she slumped into one of the beds. "I'm sleepy! G'night!"

Not even five minutes later, soft snoring could be heard from the ever-so-cheery girl.

The two older girls shook their heads, and went to bed. Sheila stood there, alone, wondering what had happened.

* * *

_The tattoo wasn't a common feature for any Celestrian. In fact, Alice is the only one with it, but she doesn't mind._

_After all, it was a sign of __**their**__ bond. The bond that would last until the end of time._

_Alice would make sure of it._

* * *

When Marine and the others woke up, Alice wasn't in her bed. Her ruined dress was still there, so it was safe to assume that she was still in her nightgown, and within Zere. Who would go fighting in a NIGHTGOWN?

Marine hurriedly gets dressed, and rushes out of the inn. It's not much of a wonder as to where Alice went; just follow the laughter of the children. _Birds of a feather flock together_, Marine hoped. She jogs over near the church, and sure enough, Alice is running around with a couple of little girls, seeming to be playing tag. Of course, since the nightgown is too big for her, Alice would often trip and fall, making her nightgown get increasingly dirtier.

Marine stands around for a few minutes, and notices the nearby town shop. She vaguely remembers the measurements of that dress Patty gave to Alice, and approaches the salesman, who happened to be the shop owner's teenage son. He leaned on the counter as Marine got closer, a smirk gracing his face. Marine could already tell she wouldn't like this.

"Hello, I need something small, but durable." The teen raised an eyebrow at her.

"...We have female underwear?" Marine's face went scarlet. How dare this moron think she was talking about CLOTHES!

"No, you idiot! I'm talking about armor!" She didn't need to say anymore, because Alice hopped up to them, appearing out of nowhere. Marine assumed she got bored of tag.

"Ooh, what'cha doing, Marine? Shopping? That sounds FUN!" Alice clapped her hands together, making all the former would-be tension disappear. Marine smiles, and holds Alice up to the shop boy.

"Yeah, I specifically need the armor for this kid. Not a dress either, those don't seem to hold out too well." Alice pouted.

"Aww, but I like dresses..." The boy frowned at the thought of the little girl going into battle, but he turned back to his merchandise, and returned a few minutes later, holding up a weird leather garment of some kind, that had a dark green cape attached to it. Alice instantly fell in love with it, if only for the fact that capes are _cool as shit_. She made the grabby hands for it, and Marine knew that she would not be leaving without it. She sighed, payed for it, and took Alice back to the inn to regroup and have Alice change.

* * *

"You look cute in that, Alice!" Sheila squealed, spinning Alice in circles as they walked to 'Petra's' house. It seemed that the old maid, Alanna, went there to spend time with her old friend, Petra. Petra's old husk of a husband was standing outside the house, just hanging around the stream that led from the large tree that covered practically all of Zere, to the ocean. He also had a cool looking dog that Alice immediately gravitated towards, riding the dog around like a horsey.

"Hey, little girl! You should be careful, that dog is known for biting... Oh well, she seems to be fine." The old man waves his hand at Alice, and turns to the three girls. "Do you need something?"

"We're looking for Alanna?"

"Oh, she's inside the house with Petra. They won't let me back in during their visits." He sighed, but pointed to the lone house by the woods. Marine thanked him, and thought about calling Alice over... but Alice looked positively overjoyed to be playing with the dog, so she decided against it, and the three girls went in on their own.

(One annoying talk with old people later)

Marine limped her way out of the house. The old ladies' tone deaf singing actually injured her legs somehow. Sheila was quietly whimpering, but Iris seemed fine. They walk over to Alice, who is now just lying face-down into the grass, and Marine nudges her in the side with her foot.

"Alice, stop napping. We're leaving." Marine sighs as Alice struggles to flip over, and sticks her arms straight out.

"Carry me!"

"What? Why? Did that dog beat you up?" Marine looked the girl over carefully, while Sheila looked around for the possible murder suspect. Alice shook her head, and grinned.

"No~ That dog was the nicest, I'm just too tired~" Alice yawned for emphasis.

Marine's mouth twitched, but she complied with the childish demand, throwing Alice over her shoulder like a potato sack. They continued on their way to the entrance of Zere so they could leave.

"So, where are we goin'?" Alice propped up her head with an elbow as she stared expectantly at Sheila and Iris, who were trailing behind Marine for their own safety.

Sheila smiled, "We're going north! The nursery rhyme said 'Bird, north, Brigadoomward on', so we're gonna try that out~"

Alice let out a hum of amusement. "I see."

As they approached the front gate, they heard somebody screaming.

"AAARGH! SOMEBODY HELP US!"

Alice jumped off of Marine's shoulder, and skipped her way over to where some dude was flippin' his shit in front of the Village Guardian's decrepit statue. He was trying to defend an old woman from the Wight Knight, who seemed to just be asking some normal questions with no threatening involved at all.

The conversation got clearer as she approached them, ". . .I look like a witch's slave you you? I've never heard of something so ridiculous as a knight serving a witch!"

"I have~" Alice twirled, getting their attention, "But he ain't no servant~"

Wight Knight turned to Alice, letting the villager escape. The old woman, however, didn't move. Alice wondered if she died standing.

"Ah, you are Alice, are you not? What are you doing here all by yourself?"

Alice grinned, and jumped on his horse. "Firstly, I'm not alone, the girls are around... somewhere close by. Second, we're finding out stuff about Brigadoom~"

He awkwardly patted Alice on the head, "Oh, really? You didn't need to go through so much trouble on my account, but... did you learn anything?"

Alice told him what Sheila had told her, taking credit for all the work. The Wight Knight looked at her confusedly.

"So, I'm part of an old nursery rhyme? That is... odd. I'm clearly not the figment of a storyteller's imagination! 'Bird, north, Brigadoomward on'?" He nodded, and handed Alice to Marine, who had just arrived on the scene. "I suppose that there's no harm to following the bird's example. Northward, ho!"

The Wight Knight rode off into the sunset (even though it was mid-morning), with Alice waving enthusiastically. Marine had no idea what just happened, but she felt cheated somehow.


	12. Chapter 12

As the girls moved slightly north of Zere, they came to a large pond that was dark violet, and emitted an odd odor. Alice squealed at the sight, and Marine made a grab for Alice's cape, only to just barely miss.

"Alice, no! That's poison!" Marine groaned as Alice bounded up the edge of the pond, and leaped across it into the middle, where there was a tiny island. She leaned down, and took the plant that was growing there, placing it into a glass bottle. After that, she took out several small vials, and carefully scooped up the poisonous liquid into them. After that, she shoved them back into her bag, which was enchanted by her first 'mentor' to be a vacuous hole for items. It was very handy, and Alice loved putting little gifts in it for **her**.

Alice smiled gently at the thought of possibly seeing **her** again soon, before all the Celestrians ascend into the stars, but was pulled out of her reminiscing by the loud voice of her mortal companions.

"ALICE, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT NOW!" Marine stomped her feet, behaving not-at-all like the nineteen year old she is. Sheila was patrolling the edge of the poison pond warily, while Iris just looked at her disapprovingly.

Alice grinned, and started spinning around on one foot, so as not to fall into the pond, for five minutes, before she launched herself right into Marine, who fell over from the impact.

Marine spent the next hour lecturing Alice, and tied a rope she had acquired somewhere to Alice's midsection, so that Alice couldn't keep wandering out of sight.

They went even further north, now, and suddenly a fireball came flying out of nowhere, hitting Alice right smack in the face. Marine and Iris made quick work of the weird cloud-like perpetrator while Sheila gingerly wiped the black soot off of Alice's face with a wet cloth. Alice's lower lip trembled as Sheila rubbed the last of the soot off of Alice's forehead. Iris came back first, and soothingly petted Alice's hair.

After clearing out several mobs of the cloud monsters, Marine wandered back over to the two, "Is she gonna live, 'doc?"

"Alice is amazing!" Sheila squealed, "Not a single scratch, or even burn marks!"

"You're quite lucky, Miss Alice." Iris mused, smiling in relief that the girl was virtually unharmed.

Marine shuddered at the thought of what Erinn might have done if they had returned, and Alice had a huge burn scar smack dab on her face. _Oh god, that'd be terrible- for me!_

Marine worriedly reached out her hand to make sure that Alice was okay, but instead, Alice jerked her head to the side, ignoring Marine. Alice crossed her arms grumpily, grumbling incoherently about 'stupid mortals'. Luckily, the others didn't hear that part, they were busy staring wide-eyed at the girl.

_Alice can get angry too? _This thought ran through all of their head's, and Alice suddenly just stopped what she was doing, and started rubbing her face furiously.

"Aargh! My face!" Alice whined, sounding more like her usual kiddy self. As the other two let out an inaudible sigh of relief, Sheila tilted her head, staring holes into Alice's head.

_Where have I heard that grumpy voice before...?_

Sheila shook her head of these thoughts as the group kept moving, with Marine continuing to keep a firm grip on Alice's rope-leash, and Iris looking around to make sure that no more fireballs would be hitting the group.

* * *

Eventually the group came to what they assumed to be the deepest part of the northern woods, since it WAS coated in a deep, dark, mysterious fog. That couldn't be any less suspicious if it tried.

As they approached the entrance of the deepest part of the woods, they were surprised to find a large castle, long since past it's prime; large parts of some towers were crumbling/had already crumbled, and there was a heavy, dark cloud hovering over the site, thunder booming every now and then.

The Wight Knight came galloping up to them, and slowly came to a stop in front of Alice, staring in shock at the sight before them.

Wight Knight let out a weird strangled noise, "No! This... this can't be Brigadoom!"

Sheila let out a gasp, "THIS is Brigadoom?!"

Wight Knight shook his head, ignoring Sheila, "...I don't understand. How could I have been away so long that it's fallen into such a state?" He looked up the the tallest tower, "And what has become of my beloved Mona?"

The Wight Knight took off deeper into the ruins, calling out for his Princess.

* * *

After watching Wight Knight take off, Alice tried to speed off after him, only to be choked by Marine's harsh yank of the rope-leash. She sat there in the dirt, moping.

"Alice, I don't know if you noticed, but this castle is falling apart as we speak. I'm NOT returning back to Erinn with your dead, mangled body because you wanted to explore the ruins." Marine hissed at the sullen girl, who was making no attempt to stand back up.

_It's not like some fallen debris is going to kill me..._ Alice whined internally, not able to say that out loud. She really can't blame Marine, since none of them know that Alice is actually an immortal Celestrian.

A dark laugh, that still somehow managed to sound like the tinkling of bells, sounded throughout Alice's head. Alice jumps a little, slightly startled, but tries to pass it off as nothing. It was a pleasant surprise to hear **her** laughing though, and Alice unknowingly let out a satisfied squeal as she cupped both of her childish cheeks, squeezing her face in excitement while she kicked her feet in the dirt.

Well, that was certainly NOT noticeable AT ALL. It most certainly did NOT catch the attention of her companions. They weren't starting to think Alice had some mental problems; not at all! Perish the thought!

Instead of mentioning it and getting some dodgy response (which Marine was positive they would get), Marine picked Alice up around the waist with one of her arms as they made their way to the lower level of the ruins that they had seen the Wight Knight go through.

* * *

The second they walked down the steps into the lower level of the ruins, they were ambushed by some Skeleton Warriors; the first hit being targeted at Alice. Luckily, Alice jumped at just the right time, so her rope-leash was slashed. Alice let out a cheer, and rewarded the Skeleton Warrior by bashing his skull in with her sword, before running off deeper into the ruins.

"Eh... Shouldn't we go after her?" Sheila nervously looked at Marine, who just shrugged with a grunt.

"There's no use, she'll find some way to run off. I doubt Alice is going to go _that_ far without us. She's probably just hanging around somewhere. We'll catch up with her later." Marine trudged forward, slashing through the occasional monster that approached them. There weren't many, since, by the looks of all the dead corpses lying around, Alice had made a game of how many monsters she could slaughter.

_Well... at least we'll never have to worry about whether Alice can take care of herself or not._ Marine grimaced at the overwhelming stench of monster blood.

Iris pointed to the rather obvious trail the corpses were leading, and soon enough, they found Alice sitting in what looked like a library, reading a stack of books.

Marine snuck up behind her quietly, and brought her fist of anger down upon Alice's skull... only to make her hand throb in pain.

"FUCKING SHIT- WHY IS YOUR HEAD SO HARD?!" Marine cussed, flailing her hand in the air.

Alice tilted her head back to look at Marine, "Shh! I'm trying to read this book!"

Iris crouched down to read the front cover of the book. "...'The Basics of Brigadoomian Nuptial Dancing'. Interesting."

Sheila's eyes widened, "You're interested in dancing, Alice?"

Alice puffed her cheeks, but nodded reluctantly. "I guess. Wedding dances between newlyweds _are_ a big deal..."

A dark smile made its way onto Iris's face as she creeped closer to Alice, her tone taunting. "Ooh, you want to get married? Got anyone... _specific_ in mind, Miss Alice?"

Alice put the book down, (seeming to be) staring at Iris blankly . Just as Marine and Sheila thought the subject was going to be dropped (_Alice IS just a child, after all_), Alice's face turned a dark scarlet, and a squeak slipped out. "...M-maybe...!"

Before Iris could probe further, Alice took off for the stairs that the three had spotted earlier when they were searching for the kid minstrel.

Iris clicked her tongue, "Tch... So close...!"

Both Marine and Sheila were incredibly embarrassed by their calmer friend's audacity, but they couldn't help but be curious over the question as well.


	13. Chapter 13

The girls followed another trail of monster corpses that was much thicker than the previous one, a clear sign that Alice was incredibly about her earlier outburst, so she was trying to get her mind off of it by killing innocent monsters. Eventually, the trail led to yet another staircase that led to a large hallway.

One hallway path was broken off by old age (or maybe it was the earthquake a week or so ago), so they had to turn the other way... only to find yet ANOTHER staircase. This one, however, had the door at the bottom of the stairs wide open, and the trio could see Alice rummaging through the wardrobe. Marine scrambled down the stairs to grab Alice by the wrist.

"Alice! What are you doing! Don't snoop through other people's stuff!" She scolded.

Alice raised an eyebrow at Marine, "...Marine, this place is in _ruins_. I'm positive nobody will care if I go through this dresser thing."

While she said that, she pocketed the pair of earrings and the choker she had 'freed'. _Marine can't stop me! Can't stop won't stop!_

Sheila looked at a painting hanging on the wall as she waited for Marine to stop scolding Alice, only to stop in surprise.

"O-oh my!" Sheila squealed, "Is this Princess Mona? She's beautiful!"

Iris leaned over Sheila's shoulder, "...She looks exactly like Princess Simona of Stornway, except for her beautiful necklace..."

Marine glared at Alice, "Did you find the necklace?"

Alice shrugged, "Nope. It looks pretty though."

The others looked at her confusedly, a single thought shared between the three of them: _How can you even see it?_

Alice pointed over to an open book, "There's also a diary. It's pretty interesting, I guess. And over there (points to the bookshelf), is a letter sandwiched between two books on the bottom shelf. It appears to be from the Wight Knight... heh!"

Alice snorted, slowly escalating into full blown laughter at the thought of HOW exactly he had gotten inside the Princess's PERSONAL CHAMBERS in order to deliver that letter.

Sheila tried to read the book, but... "Aww! I can't read it! It's in some kind of ancient language..."

Marine clicked her tongue, "Tch, if Sheila can't read it, then neither can the rest of us."

Alice wandered over towards Sheila, and pushed Sheila aside. "I can get it~ Just gimme a second..."

Alice reached towards her right eye, and pried it open, much to the others surprise. Her eye was a bright, shining cerulean color, with little specks of red and black in it.

"... 'My beloved Right Knight... I will go to you, in that land far away... I haven't forgotten you, my love. For as long as the blood of Brigadoom lives on... I will not stop looking... I will find you...'" Alice closes her eye, and rubs it. It's been awhile since she used her actual eyesight, so her eye wasn't exactly appreciative of the sudden intake of bright(ish) light. "That's all I can read, the rest of this book is too faded. I guess it's because the book was turned to this page."

Stella appeared out of Alice's pocket, holding a red and yellow cloth. "Well, that was flappin' vague. Does this mean she died here?"

Alice shook her head, "Nah, there'd be a body if she died here. More importantly, what's that thingy you got there?"

All Iris and Marine could see was the floating piece of colorful cloth. At least they had a vague indication of where the fairy was.

"Oh, it's just a little somethin' I picked up while you were busy slaughterin' every monster in sight. Not that I mind all that much, they were flappin' disgusting. You're my little Victoria, you angel you!" Stella pinched Alice's cheek, and wrapped the cloth around Alice's head, tying a knot at the back of her head tightly. "There we go! Now you have a fashionable bandana! It really clashes with the rest of your colors, but if a rainbow's what you're goin' for..."

Alice grinned widely, and squeezed Stella in a tight hug, murdering the poor fairy. "Yayy! Thanks, Stella! Red's my favorite color!"

* * *

After Stella smacked Alice upside the head for nearly killing her, the four girls continued to go down the hallway, having started to hear some evil laughter. After making two turns down the long hallways, they finally came to a large door. Not one to be worried about the possible dangers, Alice kicked the door open, and frowned at the sight in front of her.

There was some weird lady with blue skin, blue wings, blue hair, and even a blue crystal strapped to her forehead, sitting on a throne, smirking at the Wight Knight, who was drawing his lance out, probably to attack her. It was a safe assumption that this was most definitely NOT Mona, even after the earthquake that woke up Wight Knight.

The eternally blue lady (who Alice had the urge to name Mordred, for some reason) chuckled darkly at Wight Knight, "Ka ha ha! Welcome home, m'love. I've been lookin' ev'rywhere for ye. Ye wernae hidin' from me, were ye, ye naughty boy?"

"Morag!" Wight Knight snarled at the sight of his arch nemesis. "Now I remember! I had left Brigadoom in search of _you_, so that I could destroy you for the safety of the kingdom!"

Mordred/Morag laughed again, slowly getting up off the throne, "But it was **I** who defeated **you**, an' wrapped ye in mah sweet, sweet embrace." She held out her hand, slowly inching forward, "An' I had ye all tae maself there for a century or two, the two o' us in oor own private wee world o' darkness. Ye'ren all mie, an' dinnae forget it. Ye're my Wight Knight in shinin' armor..."

Wight Knight scowled at her, and pointed his lance at her. "Enough! This was all your doing! What have you done with her, you fiend?! Where is my precious Mona?"

He made a leap for her throat, only to be shot with a black ball of darkness, with an eerie glow of purple. He was sent back flying several feet, almost knocking Alice over (luckily, Iris pulled her out of the way in time).

"Graaaagh!" Wight Knight let out an anguished grunt. Mordred/Morag stood back up straight, placing a red gloved hand on her hip, letting out another annoying laugh.

"Ye silly nyaff! The earthquake mae have broke the spell I placed on ye, but there's nothin' can stand in the way o' true love. I'll just put another spell on ye, and we'll be all alone together in the darkness again before ye know it. Just the two of us..."

_This lady is starting to __**REALLY**__ starting to piss me off...! _Alice made a quick check on Wight Knight to see if he's okay, but he was too busy wriggling around in pain. _Well, he'll be fine for now._

Alice angrily stomped towards Mordred/Morag, yanking her sword her of its hilt. "Now see here you damn trashiest piece of absolute SHIT I've ever seen in my entire life...!" Right before Alice could really get into her tirade, Mordred/Morag scowled at her, noticing the four of them for the first time.

"Oh? Are ye here tae steal my beloved Right Knight away from me? Ha! Well, ye're a fool! Did ye no feel the strength of the curse I've put on my poor wee darling? It's pure, yet deadly powerful." Alice face started turning dark red, and it was not from embarrassment; Alice was starting to feel her blood boil in that one way that only certain subjects can make happen. "I can see yer shakin' in ye boots. Dinnae worry yer wee pretty heid. Ye'll soon find out for yerself! Ka ha ha!"

Mordred/Morag leaned forward slightly, shooting the black lasers out of her pure red eyes straight at Alice. Marine and Sheila shrieked, while Iris gasped in horror, after seeing the effect it had made on Wight Knight, who was much bigger than Alice.

All were surprised to see Alice just shake it off, and grin evilly at Mordred/Morag, who was gasping her mouth like a fishy out of water.

"Wh-what...?! I've the cruellest, most crippling curses known tae mortalkind... How could they not work on such a wee, pathetic mortal...?"Mordred narrowed her eyes, leaning towards Alice, "...Just what exactly are ye? If ye were mortal, my curse couldnae have failed, and ye'd be dead at mah feet... Wait... Ye're not... one of **them**, are ye?!"

At the sight of Alice's grin growing wider, Mordred/Morag took a staggered step back. "Ach, no! We absulutely cannae be havin' this!" She took out a golden dagger out of the deep slit in her dress, "Why couldn't ye have just left us in peace, eh? Now I'm goin' tae have tae make yer wee pretty face a whole lot less lovely!"

Mordred/Morag flew into the air, and made for a stab at Alice's throat... only to be stopped by Alice grabbing her outreached arm, twisting it until several loud cracks could be heard echoing throughout the room as Alice chuckled darkly, breaking Marine and the others out of their shocked stupor.

"I'm going to break that disgusting neck of yours until you can't breathe, so you won't be able to cast anymore of your DISGUSTING ASS MAGIC."

* * *

**When you fought Morag, did you ever wonder why she was always creepin' on you? She says your face is pretty, and she has an ability to make your party members fall in love with her... **

**What a creep! It's even worse against girls.  
**

**I had thought Morag's name was Mordred before I played the segment for the story.  
**

**Jade laughed at me, that asshole.  
**


	14. Chapter 14

Realizing how quickly out of hand this was getting, Marine took out her lance, and separated the rabid Alice as Iris put the poor Mordred/Morag (who had suffered several slashes, courtesy of Alice) out of her misery. That doesn't mean that Mordred/Morag didn't fight her damnedest to beat Iris into dust. It was starting to become a pain in the ass for Iris, who kept getting swiped at by a long set of claws, Sheila occasionally casting healing magic on her.

It was Alice who landed the final blow, with a brutal ending for Mordred/Morag. Alice had actually jumped onto Mordred/Morag's shoulders, and sunk her sword into Mordred/Morag's skull. After letting out some long ass speech about how she had only really wanted the Wight Knight to love, Mordred/Morag slumped to the floor, and Alice started the task of trying to tug her sword out of its new mounted place. The nice pair of black high heels that Mordred/Morag was wearing looked too tempting... so Alice swiped them.

The spell on Wight Knight instantly dissipated, sending him onto his knees. Part of Mordred/Morag's final speech was how 'Mona was dead, blah blah blah, now he'll be alone forever, blah blah blah'.

"Oh, Princess Mona! It can't be true!" Alice, having calmed down considerably, turned to Wight Knight with a look of pity. He had just found out that he had been (technically) cheating on the love of his life, even though it was under the force of a harsh spell, and now he had to face the fact that the love of his life was long dead, never to be seen again. Alice could sympathize with him, she had seen a similar situation occur, but that was centuries ago...

Nonetheless, Alice patted him on the shoulder as Stella magically appeared (why only AFTER the fight? Sheesh!). She silently waited for the speech that was sure to come. Mortals seemed to love long ass speeches.

Finally, he spoke, quietly at first. "...With your help, I had finally returned to Brigadoom, but yet..." He raised his head to stare at the empty throne, "The passing of centuries has long since destroyed my homeland, and my beloved Mona is no longer here to welcome me...

"...I came home at last... but alas, I was too late..." His shoulders slumped, defeated.

Just then, an oddly familiar voice shocked the five (six, including Stella) of them.

"You are not too late, my love."

They all snapped their heads towards the figure that was slowly walking towards them in a bright white dress, a large ruby jeweled necklace hanging just below her chest.

"...That necklace!" Wight Knight seemed to be looking in that general direction too, amusing Alice to no end. "Princess Mona!...I-I don't... Aren't you...?"

Princess Mona smiled, and slowly shook her head. "I made you a promise. I swore that I would wait for you, no matter how long you were gone; no matter how many years passed by."

She reached out her hand to him, "My beloved Right Knight... Take my hand! Dance with me! The first dance we should have had as man and wife..."

Wight Knight slowly rose to his feet, still looking at the princess uncertainly. "Princess Mona... you forgive me?"

The Princess didn't give him any response, but gave him a tilted smile. The two of them stood closely together, and danced all around the room.

Alice couldn't help herself from being jealous. She wished that she could do the same thing with her beloved just as easily... _but I can't. Not yet. Soon, our time will come as well..._

Alice let out a small sigh as she watched, seeing Sheila force Iris and Marine to join her in a three-way dance, just for fun. Alice made a side glance at Stella, who looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"...What are you doing, Stella?"

"Not now, Alice!" Stella snapped at her. Shrugging, Alice turned her attention back towards the dance, only to be pulled away by Sheila, who forced her to dance with the three of them, all of them taking turns dancing with each other, making a rotation of partners every few moments.

* * *

Eventually, the two of them stopped their dancing, and the Wight Knight started glowing the nicely colored glow that Alice vaguely remembered as the glow that grateful people had. He ascended into the air, and smiled at the princess.

"Thank you, Princess. I know that you are not my Mona, but... without you, I would surely have been doomed to wander these lands forever in eternal despair."

Princess Simona clasped her hands together, "I knew you were the Right Knight from the old stories! I just knew it. I knew there was... a connection between us the moment you appeared."

Alice blushed slightly, remembering having that same feeling all those centuries ago... but she had been right. Very right. Very much so.

Wight Knight chuckled for the first (and most likely the last) time, "It is not unbelievable that you, who has inherited the memories of my beloved Mona, would feel so..."

That surprised Simona, "...So, I am Princess Mona's...!"

Now Wight Knight ignored her, turning towards Alice and her companions. "Thank you, Alice. Without you and your companions, I would never have uncovered this truth. Now I have no regrets. Only eternal gratitude..."

His body shone a bright white as his body faded away, and Alice swore she saw a tear roll down Simona's face.

Giving her a few minutes to reclaim her dignity, Alice turned to Marine, who was grumbling about how the rest of them had only been an afterthought. Alice patted her on the knee, and approached Simona.

Before Alice could even say anything, Sheila had already stormed up to Simona, shaking her by the shoulders. "Why are you here?! Do you know how dangerous that was?!"

Simona's eyes started to swirl around, "I-I know I was supposed to have left it all up to the four of you, but I just couldn't help myself! I had to come along! Though... Alice, did you already know that?"

All heads turned to Alice, who had started to play around by putting the high heels on her hands, clapping them together. Realizing everyone was staring at her, Alice hid her hands behind her back.

"Yeah, I did. Were things easier, since I cleared all the monsters out for you?" She grinned at Simona, who smiled in return.

"Yes, it was much easier. Thank you very much..." Simona's eyes glazed over as she looked at the spot where the Wight Knight had once been standing. "...It's odd... When I was dancing with him, I heard a voice... A woman's voice. She was saying 'thank you'..."

Simona shook her head, "Anyway, I must hurry back to the castle before father notices I'm gone so I can tell everyone the news. I'll be sure to have your reward ready for you, so do stop by the castle as soon as you can."

With that all said and done, the Princess took her leave, having a small band of soldiers for protection as they left the premises.

Stella snorted, having made a connection. "I guess Mona didn't wait for him after all."

Ignoring Stella, Alice did a cheery jig on her way out of the ruins, "I'm goin' home!"

* * *

**Yeah, you wish, Alice. This is Dragon Quest, not baby goes home!**


	15. Chapter 15

The instant they walked outside, Alice had shoved a chimaera wing into their hands, and took off, skipping at the speed of a cheetah towards Stornway. Marine looked at the small wing in her hand, and raised an eyebrow at it, before handing it over to Sheila.

"What is it?" Marine questioned. Sheila always had been the smartest of the three, albeit the youngest.

Sheila sweatdropped, "...Marine, we learned about chimaera wings back in school! Weren't you listening?"

Iris smirked, "She was too busy drooling all over her desk, remember?"

Marine growled at Iris, and smacked her upside the head. "Shut up, Iris! Sheila, speak words!"

Sheila laughed quietly, "...Chimaera wings will magically transport you to a location you've already been to if you say the name of your location out loud."

Marine swiped it out of Sheila's hands, scoffing. "Well, why didn't you just say so?! Let's get our asses to Stornway!"

A magical blue light enveloped the three of them, and they heard a swooshing sound as they disappeared.

* * *

When everything in their vision stopped being completely white, they became aware that they were now just outside of Stornway's walls, with Alice sitting on the steps, staring at them (probably), head slightly tilted in her hands.

"First time using chimaera wings?" Alice giggled, "Amateurs."

Marine frowned, and stomped up to Alice, holding her up be the back of her cape. "You're like, what? Five? Six? Didn't anyone tell you to respect your elders?! When this is over, I am going to escort you home and meet your parents!"

Alice frowned, and it slowly turned into a scowl. "I'm no kid, you incompetent m-" Her scowl quickly disappeared, and a large grin took its place, "-Okay! Can we go to Erinn's now? I'm super tired~"

The three of them stared at Alice, shocked by the abrupt change in attitude. Marine sighed, and rubbed her face with her free hand.

_This kid has some serious problems._

* * *

The second they walk through the door of the Quester's Rest, Erinn stampeded over Marine to snatch Alice away, and swished her around in a tight hug. Alice looked slightly green, and was waving her arms around (presumably asking for assistance).

"Ooh, Alice, I'm so glad you're okay!" Erinn rubbed their cheeks together, "You're staying in my room tonight, okay? We'll talk all~ night!"

With that, Erinn took off, dragging a struggling Alice down the hallway to the staff's quarters. Marine snorted at the abrupt change Alice will go through when Erinn's involved.

_Even Alice, who will viciously attack monsters, is scared by Erinn's motherly affection, huh?_ Snickering, Marine made her way to her own room, ignoring the faint screaming for help she could sense as she passed Erinn's room.

_Sucks to be you, kid!_

* * *

_When Marine opens her eyes, she finds herself back on top of the large building. However, today there are no little children running around, as well as the creepy little girl from last time._

_"...Still, it's incredibly peaceful here..." Marine let out a big, content sigh as she leaned against the large tree._

_Her peaceful quiet didn't last long, since not five minutes later, there was the distinctly heavy sound of quickly-moving footsteps, and a figure came bounding up the stairs to the tree. It was the little girl from last time; except she was grinning, and her face was slightly dusted with a light blush._

_**"Papa? Is 'dat- oh. 'S only **_**you**_**."**__ The girl scowled, and swiftly kicked Marine in the shin._

_"Ow! What the hell, kid?!" Marine shrieked while rubbing her sore shin, tears slightly poking out of her eyes._

_**"'Ya got my hopes up, 'ya little shit. Papa was goin' 'ta be comin' back today. Since he's not here, 'm leavin'."**__ The kid turned around and stomped back down the stairs._

_Marine stared at her as she stomped off, "...What kind of dad leaves his kid all alone for long periods of time?"_

_**But... where have I seen that grin before?**_

_For just a moment, a bloody figure with no face grinned at her, white snow falling down, like a thick blanket; but then, just as quickly as it was there, it vanished._

_Marine could still feel the coldness of the snow, and heard a faint, dark laugh ringing in her ears..._


	16. Chapter 16

**Behold, peasants! The prince has decided to post TWO (gasp!) chapters today!**

**I really just want to move along as quickly as I can,since my pacing is rather slow. I value character development too much. ;;**

* * *

When Marine, Sheila, and Iris had gotten up, they found Alice in the staff kitchen, sulking in a corner about 'meany butt team mates that don't help at all'. Alice had gotten back into her Celestrial uniform, but kept the bandana that Stella had made for her. Even though it was against Celestrial conduct to wear other clothing with your uniform, it was one of the very few gifts Alice had ever received. Plus, it had two of her favorite colors!

"Alice! Good morning~!" Sheila cheered, hoping to raise the spirits of the little girl. Oddly enough, it worked; little flowers popped up behind Alice as she looked at them excitedly (except for Marine, whom she glared at).

"Oh, good! You guys are up! Now we can go!" Alice jumped up and down like a little kid who's waiting for their parents to get ready so they can attend a cool festival. Iris patted her on the head gently.

"You have to wait for us to get our breakfast first, and then we can go, alright, Miss Alice?" Alice deflated, but nodded, and lied on the floor, limbs spread everywhere to inhibit others' movement. As soon as they sat down to eat, Alice started making really loud, weird sounds.

Marine rolled her eyes, and threw a slipper at Alice's unmoving head, "Stop your whining, kid! Eating is not to be rushed."

It did the trick, and Alice quietly waited for the three of them to get ready to leave.

* * *

The guards were desperate to get out of their way as they approached the castle gates, and watched them as they went inside the castle.

"A group of teenage girls and a CHILD beat the Wight Knight _and_ an evil witch!" Some stuttered in awe.

Some of the other guards kept trying to give Alice pieces of candy for a job well done, but Marine wouldn't let her take them, for some reason. Alice wasn't very pleased at the loss of candy. She's never really had it before. Sheila gladly accepted all offerings of candy, and saved it for later, so that she could have candy parties with Alice.

As they walked up the stairs (with Alice jumping up two steps at a time), they caught sight of Princess Simona being reprimanded by her father, the King, while her mother just sat on her throne, blubbering all over everywhere. Luckily, they were probably happy tears.

All voices were hushed as Alice skipped forward through the throne room, her companions hot on her heels. Alice gave the King a deep bow.

"Your Majesty~!" Before she could continue in her sing-song manner, the King stood up and cuffed her upside the head, ruffling her hair underneath the bandana.

"Oh, there's no need for formalities, Alice! It's good to see you, lassie! Simona's told me everything." He reseated himself on his large throne, "...It sounds like that Wight Knight was having a tough old time. In hindsight, I feel a wee bit guilty for giving him so much trouble..."

King Schott coughed slightly, "Still, all's well as ends well. You did a wonderful job there, lassies! I'm quite impressed!"

Alice squealed in excitement, and started jumping around with Sheila. The King left them to themselves, and turned to Iris, who was the tallest of the four. He handed her a large bag of gold, and shook Iris and Marine's hands for a job well done.

As they were walking away, the King let out a loud laugh, calling them back. "Oh, strivvens! I almost forgot that I've reopened the eastern checkpoint! It was closed while all that trouble was brewing with the knight. There's a large town beyond that checkpoint. Maybe the four of you will find more adventure there! Ho ho ho!"

As they continued to walk outside the city, people swarmed them to thank them for their dangerous work. Once the crowd finally had ebbed away, Iris had already escaped towards the inn with Sheila in tow, but Marine stayed behind, looking around. Clutched in Marine's hand was a pair of crystal blue earrings.

Alice was nowhere in sight.

* * *

Stella floated above Alice as they made their way back towards the Starflight Express, watching the girl skip towards the mountain pass. They had been travelling in silence for twenty long minutes, and it was starting to drive Stella crazy.

"You sure you shouldn't have said goodbye to your pals?"

Alice shook her head, "Nah, it's not likely I'll see them again anyway. We're going to go back, and I'm going to get to go home, and then all Celestrians will rise into the starry sky."

Stella raised an eyebrow at her strange partner, "...You're kind of a flappin' idiot, you know that, right?"

They turned the corner and finally reached the Starflight Express. Stella silently stared at it for five minutes before she flipped her cow patties.

"...What the?! The Starflight looks the flappin' same! I was sure it'd have some kind of life in it after all that work we did!... Did the Almighty not notice our good work? It should be glowing..." Stella took a shocked step backwards, almost bumping her elbow in Alice's face. "...! I didn't get the wrong end of the gearstick on this one, did I?!"

She shook her head, "...No, of course not! What am I saying? Come on, Alice. I'm sure it'll perk right up once we get inside."

Motioning for Alice to follow, Stella flew inside the Starflight Express, Alice stalling at the door as Stella stood in the middle, looking completely distraught.

"...I don't believe it! It's looks EXACTLY the flappin' same! After all that trouble we went through..." Stella rubbed her face sadly, "Has the Almighty turned a blind ear on us?"

Alice sighed at the sight. _I wouldn't exactly be surprised if the Almighty had turned his back on Stella because of me. Him ignoring me doesn't surprise me at all._

She took a step inside the cabin in order to maybe console, only to be attacked by a weird tremor. Stella, of course, freaked the fuck out.

"YIKES!" She flew over to Alice, flapping her limbs around wildly, "What was that?! The whole thing just shook when you came in just now...!"

"...When you came in!" Stella stopped flapping her limbs, and started to shake Alice vigorously. "Don't you see! That's it! That's it, Alice! The benevolessence you got from helping that knight and Stornway gave you back some of your Celestrian powers!"

Alice's hands flew behind her to feel if her wings had come back, or maybe her halo, but there was no such luck. _She didn't mean my FORM, then..._

Stella grinned, and stuck her nose up in the air snobbishly. "It looks like my first instinct didn't sink after all! The Starflight will fly if she has a Celestrian on board!" She turned around to face the front of the cabin, "...But first, you need to help more people so that you can regain more of your Celestrian powers... then we'll have the old girl flying like a midsummer night's dream again!"

She smacked Alice on the shoulder, "The King opened up that checkpoint, right? We'll flat-foot it over to that town; I bet it's cram-packed with needy people!" Stella threw her arms up in victory, "Woohoo! Hope at last! Time to disembark on a mission of mortal mercy! Ahahahaha!"

Alice hung her head in misery when she realized what that meant for her, which Stella then reinforced before shoving her out of the Starflight Express.

"Good for you, girl! You'll get to see your little friends again after all!"


	17. Chapter 17

It was late evening by the time Alice made it back to Stornway. She stood outside of the Quester's Rest, bathed in the light of the inn, incredibly unwilling to take the initiative and go inside. Even without thinking, she knew that all hell would break loose if Erinn had been made aware that Alice had 'disappeared'.

Stella glared at the back of Alice's head, "Standing out here isn't goin' to get the Starflight Express back up and running, Alice! Get in there already!" She smacked Alice on the back, making her stumble into the door, smashing a small hole through the door. Alice flailed as she tripped on the small piece of door that was still on the ground, and fell flat on her face. Everything was silent on the inside of the inn.

Marine stared at the motionless girl that had just kind of broke the front door, before she realized that it was Alice. Luckily, Erinn and the others were out getting groceries. _It's a good thing I told them that Alice had just taken a little stroll. They probably just think she got sidetracked, like when we were traveling._

Shaking herself free of her thoughts, she helped Alice get up, and propped her up on a table, looking her up and down threateningly, hands on her hips. "And where have **you** been?"

Alice snorted, and gave Marine a menacing smirk, "What's it to you? You ain't my mother. Take that stick out of your a-" She straightened up suddenly, and beamed at Marine disarmingly. "-I mean, I uh... got lost. Yeah."

Marine raised an eyebrow at her strange companion, but said nothing about her odd behavior. She waved a hand, "Well, whatever. You're back just in time, we were about to make dinner. The girls should be back soon."

Right on cue, the remaining pieces of the door fell as it was 'opened'. "Marine~! We're back~"

Sheila twirled around, Iris making sure that the bare-footed girl didn't step on any of the broken pieces of wood. Patty swore up a storm, glaring at Marine.

"What the HELL did you do to my front door?!" She growled, smacking Marine upside the head. Marine rubbed the sore spot on her head, and muttered her inner thoughts about her 'boss'.

"It wasn't me, you stupid woman! It was Alice!" Everyone looked at Alice, who had gone unnoticed up until then. Iris's eyes widened just a little bit. Even though Marine had told her otherwise, Iris still had a hunch that Alice had left for home. Seeing her back here made her confused. _Why isn't she back home? Wasn't she over the moon about going home to her family?_

Tilting her head a fraction of a degree, Sheila innocently spoke their secret thoughts on seeing her, "Alice? Didn't you go home?"

Marine and Iris simultaneously face-palmed, only imagining the reaction Erinn might have at the implication that little Alice had made the (supposedly) long trip to her hometown that nobody knew the whereabouts of.

Needless to say, they were surprised when Erinn voiced her agreement, "Your parents have to be incredibly worried about you by now, Alice! Shouldn't you be going home now?"

Alice hummed, shaking her head back and forth, "Nah~, nobody will really mind if I take a little while longer to get home. There's really only a few people that will worry, but two of them are... occupied."

Thinking about it further, Alice furrowed her eyebrows. _Why hasn't Aquila come looking for me yet? I mean, I imagine that there were a bunch of other Celestrians that might have fallen to the Protectorate... but wouldn't Aquila make me first priority? I'm his beloved pupil, after all; not to mention that we're 'family', kind of. I thought we were best pals..._

Iris bemusedly watched Alice's face get grumpier and grumpier. The others had gone to put the groceries away after Alice had suddenly stopped responding to their questions of why people wouldn't care if she wasn't quick to return. Watching her facial expressions was amusing to Iris, who usually only had to deal with Sheila (and occasionally Marine, when she got too out of control).

Alice suddenly reached a hand up and started scratching her forehead while hissing, catching Iris's attention. Iris grabbed her hand before Alice could inflict any real damage, and Alice made no attempts to stop her, just going back to her grumpy mumbling.

"So, Miss Alice," Alice snapped her head up, indicating that Iris had her full attention for the moment, "Why did you come back? Not to be rude, or say that you're not welcome, but... you were quite enthusiastic about leaving... so...?"

Alice withdrew her arm from Iris's grip, and rubbed her chin while humming. "I... suppose it's because I wanted to go on more adventures with you gals," _Against my will, that is._ "just one more time, and then I'll go home. The King did say that there's a town beyond that checkpoint, right? I wanna go! Let's go!"

At the end of her statement, Alice had started jumping up and down excitedly. Ignoring the fact that she had said **suppose** rather she was **sure**, Iris had to agree. Although Alice had spent most of the time fooling around, Iris had enjoyed the short amount of time the four of them had spent together. She knew for a fact that Sheila enjoyed spending time with Alice, even more so than was probably warranted.

_But, well, it's understandable that Sheila would like the company of somebody who sees the same supernatural things as she. At the very least, Miss Alice can vouch that Sheila is not mentally unstable, like her mother had insisted._ Iris scowled at the thought of that terrible woman, but brushed it off once Sheila reappeared in the room, having been waved off by the other girls from grocery duty.

_Just because I broke a few eggs... and dropped the fruit... and tripped over the bread..._ She pouted, but quickly occupied herself with teaching Alice some games. It was amazing to her that a little kid like Alice had no clue had to play simple child games.

* * *

Eventually everything was set up for the night-shift workers, and Alice was dragged to bed by Sheila and Erinn, whom were banned from working nights, for obvious reasons that they didn't understand.

Leaving the ever-so-patient Iris to deal with the night walkers, Marine made the necessary arrangements for their expedition to Coffinwell tomorrow. After an hour, she decided to go to bed without even returning to her shift once. Iris would be incredibly upset with her come morning, but Marine decided she could handle it.

As she walked to her room, she was surprised to see Alice wandering the hallway in a long red nightie that pooled at the floor. Marine suspected that it actually belonged to Erinn, but then again, it didn't look like Alice really had any other clothes. Putting that matter aside, she tapped Alice on the shoulder, making her jump.

"Oh, geez! Marine, don't do that!" Alice put a hand over her heart, over dramatizing her shock. Marine rolled her eyes.

"What are you doing out here this late? Didn't you already go to bed?"

Alice shrugged, not giving her a response. Marine raised an eyebrow at her, and crouched down to be eye-level with Alice.

"You shouldn't be out here this late, even if you're in the staff's quarters. You know that, right?"

Again, Alice shrugged, but quietly whispered, "...I was thinking."

"About what?"

"...About stuff. Secret stuff, y'know? The stuff that you can't think about in a room occupied by two squealing girls. I mean, Sheila and Erinn are cool and all, but they're too loud." Marine was slightly taken aback at how... mature(?) Alice was sounding, but it was all shattered when Alice suddenly started laughing hysterically.

"Ahaha! You should see your face right now, Marine! You look hilarious! Well, I'm off to bed, see 'ya!" With that, Alice saluted her as she ran back towards Erinn's room, leaving Marine behind to her thoughts.

* * *

**I've decided that this won't be the completely girl's only traveling group that I originally intended. I would appreciate it if somebody would give me two male OCs. I assume everyone already knows the standard formatting that OCs require, so I won't say anything about it. They won't show up until (spoilers! kind of, I guess) Alltrades Abbey, so you've got some time.**


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning, the girls were rather surprised to see Alice just sitting behind the front counter, on the ground, talking to... a kettle pot? They decided not to do anything about it, and approached Erinn instead, who was just silently standing at the counter, not acknowledging Alice's odd behavior at all.

"...What is she doing?" Marine hissed quietly, narrowing her eyes as Alice suddenly turned her attention away from the kettle to look at something in mid-air.

Erinn nonchalantly shrugged, "She's been like that since I found that pot. It's good for alchemy, y'know? Thought it'd attract guests, but I don't know if it really works. As for her behavior, that's just how she is. During the week that she was staying with me after I found her, she'd sometimes just stare at the sky, or other places, and not respond to anything for long periods of time."

_Is Alice totally out of her mind?_ Iris raised an eyebrow at the sight, turning to Sheila, who looked really confused. "Do you see anything, Sheila?"

"Um... yeaaaah." Sheila stretched out her response, listening to the conversation Alice was having with the tall, dark, and beautiful angel lady who did not seem to like wearing clothes very much.

". . .This is surely the hand of fate at work," The angel lady spoke, "I am Pavo. I alone dare to cast open the sealed door of fate."

Alice decided that she really likes Pavo, "I am Alice, one half of a formidable duo. My 'partner' is... sleeping... somewhere."

Pavo nodded sagely, "I understand. I remember seeing your partner many years ago, before I was stationed here. Perhaps I may be able to assist you? I have the power to open the door to other dimensions that only fellow Celestrians may enter."

"I vaguely remember hearing about something like that."

"Would you like to hear more about the Rapportal?" Pavo smiled at Alice.

Alice made a quick glance at the small crowd standing at the front desk that was comprised of her pals. It really did sound inviting, and she could feel an inner urge in the bottom of her being to go through, but she had more important matters to attend to at the moment.

Reluctantly, she shook her head, switching from her serious tone to her childish one. "I'd love to, but I can't right now. Sorry Pavo, Krak Pot, but I have to go to Coffinwell now! I'll be back later though."

She jumped up onto the counter, and charged out the door, effectively dodging all questioning about her actions.

* * *

As Marine and her two friends finally got to the eastern checkpoint, they found Alice arguing with the guard.

"You can't go through here unattended, miss! The monsters up ahead are really tough!" The guard chastised her, not seeming to realize who Alice actually was.

Alice immaturely waved her sheath and shield around, "I have a sword AND a shield! I'm fine! I didn't even come by myself, sheesh! My companions are over there."

She pointed to where Marine and the others were idly standing around, watching. The guard seemed to at least be able to realize who THEY were, and quickly stood aside, waving the four on through without another word.

Alice let out a huff, and marched on through hurriedly, quickly leaving the sight of the group yet again.

* * *

"Sweet! I can't believe my luck that all these valuable materials are just lying around like this! Such a fortunate day." Alice sighed contentedly as she filled several small vials with slipweeds, crushed iron ores, shredded mushrooms, and serpent blood. Sure, the serpent blood wasn't as easy to... acquire as the other materials, but it was one of the key ingredients!

_Now I just have to melt a metal slime into a concentrated liquid extract... If I remember correctly from the one and only time I ever read a book on the details of the Protectrate and the monsters that dwell in it, there should be a ruin somewhere nearby that they can be found in._

For a long while, Alice stumbled around, completely ignoring her subconscious telling her that she forgot something.

* * *

"FUCKING HELL! WHERE'D THAT LITTLE SHIT KID GO?!" Marine tugged on her hair in frustration as the three of them stood at the entrance to Coffinwell. They had split up and asked the villagers if they had seen her, but they either hadn't seen her, or warned the trio that they may never see her again.

When they asked why (Sheila's questions being more panicked), they were just simply told:

"The whole town is slowly dying from a disease. No one, especially a little girl, is safe."

* * *

**Sorry this chapter's shorter than I'd like for it to be, but... remember that ACT/MME I talked about maybe once? It turns out I don't have another week to (not) prepare, like I had originally thought, but it's THIS WEEK. It starts TUESDAY. I'm fucked.**

**Wish me luck, subjects. ;n;**

**(OC submissions are still open, and all jobs are available.)**


	19. Chapter 19

**Whoo! Exams are over!**

**Long chapter for everyone in celebration!**

* * *

Stella floated over the shoulder of Sheila, who was the only other person who could see her. She had just turned her back for a SECOND, and poof! Alice was nowhere to be seen.

"Well, whatever. She'll come back later. Let's just look around and see what's up. This town is obviously in dire need of assistance." Stella patted Sheila on the head to get her attention, and the two of them walked off. Iris noticed, and tailed them closely.

_Where is she going?_ Iris silently huffed. She **is** supposed to be Sheila's caretaker, so Iris had no choice but to follow. _Marine will be fine by herself, she's a big girl._

* * *

". . .So, I think we'll go check out the mayor first, okay guys?" Marine turned around, but found nobody. They had all left her in the dust. Marine smacked her forehead with her palm, and slowly dragged it down her face in irritation. "Well, fuck them. I'll do my own shit."

Turning back to the door in front of her, Marine entered the mayor's residence. Surprisingly, nobody was instantly pissed off that somebody just intruded into the manor. A maid caught sight of Marine immediately, and gave her a bright smile.

"Oh, are you here to see the master? He's upstairs in the library. Just go up those stairs," She gestured to the only staircase in sight, "and it's the door at the end of the hall."

After that, the maid went on her merry way, not even bothering to see if the intruder was going to murder her master in cold blood. Marine scoffed at the naive stupidity of the 'important' people. _Who in their right minds lets in a complete stranger, instructs them as to where the leader of the household is, and then just fucks off? What a bunch of idiots._

Shaking her head, Marine makes her way up the stairs, following the instructions of the careless maid. Sure enough, Marine finds a fat old guy clad in red and yellow inside the door at the end of the hallway; the mayor, she presumes. He didn't even look up to see who entered, and it looked like he hadn't even heard her enter.

_Are you kidding me?! I could be an assassin here to eliminate him, and NOBODY would stop me! Not that they could, anyway._ Freeing herself of these thoughts, Marine steps closer, trying to make herself known. He doesn't budge, just keeps hovering over the weird old papers he has strewn out across the lone table in the library.

". . .So, that's what it says!" He leans back, a smug smile making its way onto his face, but then he just sighs and smacks his head against the table. "...Oh, who am I kidding? I don't understand a damn word of this thing. I guess I'll have to rely on _his_ help after all... I have no choice. I must do something before anymore people suffer needlessly because of my personal matters..."

Marine raises an eyebrow, slightly impressed that the guy made that discovery on his own, before lightly tapping on the table to get his attention. He looks up at her, startled, but calms down when he sees that it's just a young lady/teenage girl. He's almost reminded of his own daughter, and his hand twitches.

A small smile graces his features, "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realize I had a guest. My name is Mayor Laria, how may I assist you?"

"Well, I noticed that your town sure has a lot of recently-made graves, so I wanted to see if there was something my companions and I could help you with?" The corner of Marine's mouth twitches uncontrollably; she wants to sneer at him, but Iris and Sheila (and maybe Alice, wherever she went) would be incredibly angry if she pissed off the head honcho before they could even find out what's going on.

"...Very well. As you're surely already aware, Coffinwell has been hit by an incredibly contagious disease." Marine nodded, "Well, the fact is that our town was attacked by this very same disease nearly a century ago. I've been looking through these ancient manuscripts for a solution, but I'm afraid that I cannot understand a single word. Coffinwell is not to be easily beaten down, though! I've passed copies on to Phlegming, our local historian, in hopes that he will be able to make more sense of them. I imagine that he's already discovered something by now, but... I'm rather loath to have to go and ask him in person."

The mayor sighed at the end of his long tirade, making Marine roll her eyes. _Of course, the only reason they haven't progressed is because of a personal grudge. Such is the fate of civilization._

"It's okay. I'll go get the details for 'ya. Where's he live?"

"He lives just to the west of my house, you can't miss it."

* * *

As Marine exited the mayor's manor, she spotted the unmistakable little stature of Alice as she skipped into the entrance of Coffinwell. She was smiling brightly, but Marine couldn't help but think she looked kind of peeved.

Alice's clothing was entirely different too (except for the bandana); her awesome caped-outfit was replaced by a sleeveless caramel dress that was covered by a fluffy purple poncho, and she was wearing knee-high socks with a single pink stripe at the top. She actually looked like the little kid she appeared to be!

Marine zoomed down the stairs to quickly reach Alice, grabbing her by the wrist before she could take off again. Alice jumped, startled by the sudden appearance of Marine, but then settled down and gave her a grin.

"So, how's it going~?" Marine smacked Alice upside the head as hard as she could; wrong move, because her hand now hurt like hell.

Marine recoiled, and flapped her hand around like it was burning. "First of all, FUCKING HELL THAT HURT!...Secondly, where the hell have you been... and what the hell are you wearing?!"

Alice gave her a sheepish grin as she casually shrugged. "Oh, y'know... just gettin' lost. I got these clothes from a nice traveler who happened to find me, and he brought me back to town. I like this poncho, it's fluffy and warm."

Alice flapped her arms up and down like a bird moves their wings, making her poncho gently flap in the wind created by her movement. Marine had to admit that it was a nice looking poncho, but that wasn't all that important at the moment. She then lectured Alice thoroughly on the dangers of running off from the group, and, afterwards, she re-leashed Alice with an iron leash, dragging her towards the house that Marine was originally going to.

* * *

When Marine knocked on the door, she was, admittedly, shocked to have Iris be the one opening the door. Before she could say anything, Iris clamped her hand over Marine's mouth, motioning towards the bedroom, where Sheila and a green haired female were sleeping peacefully.

Marine freed herself of Iris's hand, and whispered quietly, so as not to wake them. "Where's Phlegming?"

Iris raised an eyebrow at her, "How do you know Professor Phlegming?... Well, whatever. Catarrhina here is Professor Phlegming's wife." She lowers her voice even more, muttering in disgust, "And they're _newlyweds_! Ugh...!"

"...Putting your romantic issues aside, we need to talk to her husband A.S.A.P." Marine marched into the bedroom, dragging Alice behind her, and shook Catarrhina awake. "Hey! Catarrhina! Wake up!"

"...Wha...? O-oops! I'm so sorry, Iris, I must have dozed off again- oh, you're not Iris. Who are you?"

Iris stepped into the room, and leaned against the door frame. "That there is my rude friend Marine, and the child who is currently foaming at the mouth because she's suffocating is named Alice. They're here to see your husband."

"Ehehe! You're friends are certainly unique, Iris." Catarrhina giggled, and then smiled warmly at Marine, who was impatiently tapping her foot. "You're here to see Phlegmy? He's working in his laboratory right now, so... What do you need, if you don't mind me asking?"

Marine crossed her arms and shrugged, "I was sent by the stupid mayor to check on his progress with those manuscripts."

"O-oh! Dad-I mean, he did? In that case, I'll go along with you and let you into his laboratory. Phlegmy's a bit shy around strangers, you see. I'll go on ahead, okay?" Catarrhina smiled as she rushed out of her own house, leaving a group of (possibly?) strangers in her unguarded home.

Sheila stirred in the other vacant bed, and sat up sleepily, rubbing her eyes free from sleep-dust. "...H-huh...?"

She blinks a few times, and sees Alice's half-conscious form on the ground. Sheila squeals excitedly and pounces on her, freeing Alice from her previous tormentor, only to land into the hands of a new one.

"Ooh, Alice! Stella and I missed you bunches!" Stella popped out from wherever she had previously been staying, blushing and sputtering.

"I wasn't _worried_! She'd obviously be fine on her flappin' own! Look at her! Stop wording my mouth for me, you flappin' mortal!" Stella slapped Sheila on the head, but her little fairy hands didn't do much damage.

Alice slowly returned to the realm of conscious people, and sat upright. "I'm okay now. Let's go."

* * *

The four of them slowly made their way over to the small nook between the two higher elevated walkways, where Catarrhina was waiting for them, coughing profusely, but she managed to stop when they had made it known that they were there.

"Oh! You're here. I'll get him to open up, then." She turned around, and knocked on the door in a weird pattern. Alice assumed that it was a secret knock between the couple, and watched closely. Maybe the secrets of couples would prove useful, someday?

A faint voice came from the inside of the door, "...Catarrhina? Is that you? What are you doing here, at this hour?"

Alice raised an eyebrow confusedly as she looked up at the sky. _What is he talking about? It's only like... four?_

"Sorry to disturb you, Phlegmy, but you have a visitor. Daddy's sent a messenger to find out how you're getting on with the deciphering of those manuscripts." The door swung open, revealing a weird man, who had long, brown locks tied in a messy braid. Alice stared at him, wondering what could possibly be attractive about this guy.

"Well, come on in. I have a million and one things to do at the moment, but I suppose a messenger from Father-in-law takes precedence." Alice frowned at his attitude, and tuned out from the rest of the conversation; instead, she took an extreme interest in the various old books he had lying around his messy office.

In a short amount of time, Alice had read through over half the books in his office, and she was rather bored by now. She looked up, only to see Phlegming staring at her curiously. Catarrhina and the others were nowhere to be seen.

"What's up?" Alice tilted her head a fraction of a degree, smiling disarmingly.

"...Shouldn't you have gone along with your friends? I mean, you _did_ come with them, right?" Phlegming stared at her, wondering if she was just a kid that had snuck in by assimilating with the group that had previously been in his office. After a detailed chat about the curse, they had returned to the mayor's mansion to get permission to take Phlegming to the ruins.

Alice looked around, confused as to where her companions went. "...Uh, I... didn't notice them leaving..." She paused, and then shrugged nonchalantly, "Oh well, they'll be back. They can't go anywhere without me."

Phlegming was puzzled by the confidence that was given off by Alice. How could a little girl have this much confidence? And even then... "How are you reading those books? They're all in ancient languages."

Alice laughs, "My... friend studied these types of things all the time. She likes these types of old timey things, so it kind of just rubbed off on me, I guess."

The door opened, bringing shit tons of light into the dimly lit laboratory. They looked up, and saw Marine and the other two come in. Marine held out a weird golden key to Phlegming, which seemed to hold a bunch of significance, because Phlegming was incredibly astounded by the appearance of it.

As the group conversed, Sheila couldn't help but blatantly stare at Alice, her face slightly pale. The words she had heard Stella utter earlier resounded in her ears, haunting her.

_**Stella grinned, and did a little fist-pump, seeming to forget that Sheila could hear her. "Ha! If we help out this lot, these people will feel so grateful to us that Alice's full Celestrian powers will be regained! And then, we can finally flappin' leave this place and head on up to the Observatory!"**_


	20. Chapter 20

**Sorry for this short update, guys. I have a larrrge essay due next week that I have to find a partner for *sigh*.**

**Why should the prince cooperate with annoying peasants?!**

**(Also, I really like Café Rouge lately *7*)**

* * *

Phlegming had been rather skeptical when he found out that Alice was actually the "leader" of the group, and therefore his head bodyguard. After all, what can a child _really_ do?

Apparently, a whole damn lot.

Not only did Alice clear out several hordes of monsters, but she knew the way to the ruins without him needing to tell her anything. There was some monster blood splattered across her small, lithe body, but nobody seemed to mind it. When they finally made it to the Quarantomb, Alice glared at it like two ancient enemies look at each other before their final match, giving it a not-so-little kick that left a dent in the sturdy structure of the building.

The first thing they saw upon entering was a wall with a large hole knocked right through it. Phlegming sighed, "The earthquake must have made it collapse."

Iris knocked her fist against the wall, resulting in a deep sound. "If a wall like this was reduced to _that_, things do not bode well for a fragile little container. Let's hurry on inside- Miss Alice?"

She paused as Alice whisked past her, standing in front of a large stone tablet that was placed in front of a door. It had two reflective surfaces, and was written in an ancient language. The others turned to Phlegming for translation, but he seemed to be puzzled.

"This... is much different from the texts of the manuscript. I can't quite figure it out..."

Sheila glanced down at Alice, "...Oh, it's okay. I think Alice's got this."

They looked down to see Alice furiously rubbing her face, until she finally smacked her cheeks, and covered her left eye with one hand, the other prying her right eye open, revealing her bright cerulean eye.

"Okaaay, let's see... 'When the sages reawaken, comes crimson and crystal blue. Travel right, oh guiding lights, and make the doors swing to.'" Alice closed her eye, and rubbed it gently. She tapped her foot in contemplation, before snapping her finger, "Oh! I got it. You guys stay here, and I'll be _riiiight_ back."

Alice took off through the halls; various monster cries could be heard, as well as the sound of metal clashing, and minor explosions. After an agonizing ten minutes, a blaring crystal blue light came from the right, and after another ten minutes, a dark red came from the left. The doors let out an odd screeching sound as they flung open. There were even more monster screams before Alice regrouped with them, stuffing a few vials of a silvery liquid into her little bag.

"...'Kay, I'm all set. Let's go!" She ran into the open doors cheerily, not heeding any warning that Phlegming tried to give her.


	21. Chapter 21

**Hello my subjects! First of all, I would like to formally announce that the Prince no longer is sidetracked by annoying schoolwork! This previous two weeks, I was swamped with four projects, three tests, and a stupid spanish exam. I hope to get serious shit done this week, so look forward to it, I suppose.**

* * *

Alice skipped towards the center of the room, surveying the smashed pot on the elevated ground. It looked like it had tipped over in the earthquake, and, because the pot is probably as old as fuck, had shattered into only a few pieces. Nothing badly damaged; it looked like an easy fix.

Phlegming thought so too, because he kept marveling over it. "Fascinating! This jar has to be over a hundred years old!... But, it's just as I feared, it was damaged in the earthquake."

_**What was your first clue you piece of shit?**_

Alice snorted, the action not going unnoticed by Sheila, who was watching her verrry closely. As if the jar smashing wasn't enough of a rather ominous clue to GET THE FUCK OUT, Phlegming walked right up to where it was placed, and started fiddling around with it.

"...Ah~! We're in good luck today, it seems. The section of the jar with the seal drawn on is still intact! Patching this up will be a piece of cake for a top-notch archaeologist like myself... just gotta take out my special glue.." Alice could only watch him with owl-like eyes as he started shuffling around on the ground, looking for pieces.

"...What the flap does Catarrhina see in this egocentric doofus?" Stella voiced Alice's inner thoughts, surprising her at the same time. Alice had been so caught up in watching Phlegming be an idiot that she had momentarily forgotten all else. Smacking her cheeks with her hands, Alice kept herself alert.

It turned out that she was right on time, because just then a weird purple monstrosity that had blue specks all over its... "skin", three eyes, and what seemed to be green haze floating out of its mouth came _out of the jar_, and it was pretty fucking pissed.

"You no-good, nose-pokin' buckaroos are here to try and cram me back in this teeny-tiny little ol' pot, aren't you?! Well! I ain't gonna let y'all do that, y'hear?! The Ragin' Contagion's gonna keep a-ragin'! Ragin', ragin', ragin'!" It shrieked right in Phlegming's face. Phlegming took a few terrified steps backwards, but didn't drop what he was doing.

"D-Drat! I haven't finished f-fixing the jar yet!" Phlegming turned his head towards Alice's group, who hadn't really bothered to try and help him. To be honest, they didn't really like him (except for Iris, who had heard about him many a time, and could no longer bring herself to care anymore), and therefore didn't really mind if he was slaughtered. They could just report it as an accident, right? Mayor Laria would definitely have accepted that, hands down.

But, no. The quartet must always rise to justice; helping those that need help, even if they're incredibly unlikable. That is the way the script for this game was written, and that's how it will be carried out, whether they like it or not (and they don't)!

"What are you doing?! Don't just stand there, Alice! If you don't do your job and fight this... abomination, I can't do mine! Keep it occupied while I get this jar back together!" Phlegming made it no secret that the little group of girls by the entrance were there to beat the living hell out of the monster. The Ragin' Contagin' turned towards them, and let out a deafening roar.

"Get lost, ya pesky critters! I'm gonna have to send yer sorry hides to the bone orchards early!" The Ragin' Contagin' grew in size, towering far over Alice, who had to bend way over backwards in order to look it in the... multiple eyes. "The Ragin' Contagin' must keep on ragin', ragin', ragin'!"

_**Ugh, I hate his accent! Hurry up and finish this hick, Alice.**_

The two engaged themselves in a long, merciless stare down, lasting many centuries within only a single moment. The Ragin' Contagin' was so distracted that it didn't notice Marine and Iris sneaking up behind it until it was too late.

Marine impaled her iron spear right through the mouth-looking area of the monster, whilst Iris executed her Flailing-Nails technique, blinding all three eyes in a single swipe. In the background, Sheila cast an anti-magic spell on the contagion, preventing it from doing any magical harm on her pals... oh! And her client, too.

Pitifully, Sheila's anti-magic spell fell to shit, and the Ragin' Contagin' turned it's (literally) blind rage onto her, spitting out soporific vapors, which embraced Sheila tightly, inducing her into a deep sleep. Alice wasn't too pleased that her match had been disturbed, and unsheathed her sword. With on small jump, she landed on the top of the contagion (which was surprisingly sturdy), and started stabbing it to hell, holding her sword like it was a knife.

Unfortunately, this made Alice a rather easy target. It took just one tilt of the head, and Alice tipped backwards, falling into the jaws of evil. With a sickening crunch, Alice's body disappeared down the throat of the Ragin' Contagin', who was quite pleased with having one brat gone.

Pissed off to hell and back, Iris cracked her fists inside of her claws, and gave the Ragin' Contagin' a good uppercut (with the claws sticking upwards) into the jaw of the thing, producing a good amount of pinkish-green blood, which was absolutely disgusting. Then, for some unknown reason, the Ragin' Contagin' suddenly split in half, dissipating into the wind. Left behind, was the one and only Alice, who was clutching what appeared to be a clump of dirt, covered in the pinkish-green goo. She also looked royally pissed off that she even fell into that state in the first place.

"This was its god damn heart, it seems. If we stick this is the jar/pot/what the fuck ever, it should stay sealed." Grumbling about how the worst shit always happens to her, Alice turned to Phlegming, who was putting the finishing touches on the jar. She shoved the clump into his hands. "Here, _you_ seal this piece of shit."

Phlegming did just that, letting out a weird unofficial incantation of some sort. The jar glowed, and the dirt was sucked right in. Puffing his chest in pride, he turned to Alice, who was trying to transfer the goo into some of her vials.

"Did you see that, Alice? Did you see what I did? I sealed the confounded contagion that has plagued our town for god-knows-how-long! Ha! Now Father-in-law will have to change his blasted tune, and show me some damn respect!" Phlegming started chattering nonstop towards Alice, who had stopped her ministrations, giving him that owlish look again.

Iris was ashamed of her friend's husband's behavior, but she was more preoccupied by trying to wake up Sheila, who was showing no signs of waking up anytime soon. It seemed she would just have to carry her. _Just like the old days, eh?_ Chuckling, Iris lifted Sheila up, and cradled her like a little kid (or, Alice, if you require a reference).

Marine, meanwhile, was becoming pretty disgusted by this guy. _He is boasting to a __**child**__. A child that was just __**eaten by the thing he just "sealed"**__- not only that, but he didn't do shit to help! She __**GAVE HIM THE JOB**__, and basically said "Here, can you manage to accomplish this simple task?"! Ugh!_

Marine was going to have a serious discussion with Alice later on who she should and shouldn't associate with.

Putting parental-feelings aside, by the time Marine had stopped fuming, Phlegming was already long gone, having gone deeper into the ruins to investigate. His only request before leaving was if they would tell Catarrhina that he was going to be late for dinner.

* * *

Without bothering to knock, Alice paraded into Catarrhina's house, Marine and Iris trailing slowly behind her. Catarrhina wasn't in the kitchen/living area, so they went into the bedroom. Perhaps Catarrhina had taken another nap? Iris vaguely recalled her saying that she had been sleeping more recently.

They found Catarrhina curled up on top of her bedsheets, slightly clutching the pillow from the other bed, which Iris had to confiscate so that she could properly place Sheila on the unoccupied bed. Alice took one look at Catarrhina and knew it from the pits of her soul that Catarrhina was long dead. There was nothing they could do for her. She stood back as the others tried to wake Catarrhina up. It was Iris that noticed something was wrong first, as she had the knowledge of knowing that Catarrhina is not a heavy sleeper. She grabbed Catarrhina's shoulder, lifting her chest up towards her ear, searching for a pulse.

After five straight minutes of hearing nothing, Iris slumped, slowly releasing Catarrhina's dead body back onto the bed. Now that she stood back, watching, there was something more disconcerting that she should have noticed upon entering, and that was that Catarrhina did not appear to be breathing. It was a much more obvious clue.

It was at that fortunate moment that Phlegming decided to come home, despite having said that he was going to be staying late in the ruins. In a way, it was a good quality to come home before night, but it was meaningless now.

"I'm home, Catarrhina!" His voice came booming from the front entrance, "I'll be off again soon, though. I'm just coming back for a quick moment to fetch some papers that will help me explore those ruins better."

A moment of silence passed, and Phlegming's quick footsteps echoed towards the bedroom door. "...Catarrhina? You're being awfully quiet..."

He stood there in the doorway to the bedroom, looking at the three of them just standing around his sleeping wife. Iris was slightly tearing up, with Marine gently patting her back. Alice was no longer even looking at Catarrhina; instead, she had turned her attention towards the sleeping Sheila.

"...What's wrong? Catarrhina?" Phlegming quickly rushed to the bedside, and started shaking her dead body, "Catarrhina! Answer me! You-You're not...? No! The contagion couldn't have possibly have taken you!"

He fell to his knees, cursing the blasted contagion that had stolen his young wife away from him so early. Phlegming was so noisy that he managed to stir Sheila awake, who just tiredly took in her surroundings, and went back to sleep, not understanding the situation.

Alice could already hear the death bells ringing, but she couldn't quite tell if they were real, or if they were but a figment of her sick imagination. Shaking her head, Alice lead the others (with Iris carrying Sheila again) outside to give him time to mourn the death of his beloved. Once outside, Alice looked up at the sunset, wondering if there had been any way they could have prevented this.

_...No. This was probably meant to happen. The consequences of being self-absorbed are harsh, but in the end it could bring about good things. I mean... __**I'm**__ right here, aren't I?_

She gingerly touched the back of her neck, lightly tracing spirals over it. It was not the first time she'd seen death happen before her eyes, and it would certainly not be the last, but at least she had that small bit of comfort, knowing that when her time soon came, at least _**she**_ would be right there beside her. To achieve that goal, Alice would witness (and even take part in) a thousand bloodier deaths, if it meant she could see _**her**_ in the flesh again.

Alice made a detour towards the church, while Marine went towards the mayor's house to report the death of his daughter. Iris, on the other hand, went to the inn to prepare a room for the four of them, so that Sheila could have a place to properly rest.

* * *

**It's a shame that Catarrhina died. She was actually one of my favorite characters (mostly because she has green hair). Can anyone detect my not-so-secret hatred of Phlegming, or should I make it even more obvious that I wish the plague had killed him instead?**

**On a side note, I've recently gotten into Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 1st Love Plus... it's really good. ;n;**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thanks to everyone for waiting! The Prince is more well-rested now. By the way, that contest I mentioned a few chapters ago is over. Thanks to those that participated! *^*/**

* * *

The bells chimed as they lowered Catarrhina's casket into the ground. Everyone was wearing black, even the four girls who did not even live there. It would have made Iris terribly upset, since she had actually known Catarrhina, so the Marine forced Alice into a nice little black dress. The ceremony was long, and dragged out, because so many villagers were sobbing their eyes out, telling various stories about past experiences with the person in question. Alice wanted to scream. They had been able to spend as much time with Catarrhina as they wanted! Even now, if they wanted to see her, they could just visit her grave! It really grated Alice's nerves how much mortals took for granted.

But that doesn't mean Alice hates mortals, not at all; quite the opposite actually. Alice loved mortals with all her little pink heart, but at the same time, Alice wished for the extinction of mankind from the bottom of her pitch black soul.

The priest's long, boring sermon-thing came to an end. ". . .Now, let us pray that Catarrhina will ascend untroubled to the heavens and rest in peace."

The large crowd dispersed, everyone going back towards their normal lives, but with heavy hearts. Mayor Laria was comforting his wife, who was an emotional wreck. Marine rolled her eyes at the waterworks. _These rich ladies sure do know how to cry._

Sheila felt bad that she had slept through most of the uncovering of Catarrhina's dead body, as well as the preparation for the burial. She hadn't known her for long, but Sheila had at least figured out that Catarrhina was a pleasant girl. Seriously, she had green hair! Of course she was a nice girl!

Alice twiddled her thumbs, deciding to play her role as the little child. The seconds were ticking by, and she was stuck in this stupid town, instead of being on the Starflight Express, well on her way back to the Observatory. She did not like this. Not at all. _Sadness, regret, misery, blah blah blah. Stupid human emotions, I have no need for them. Just gotta keep on moving forward, keep going towards my one true goal... but I do feel bad for these people. Catarrhina must have been a ray of sunshine for this town._

Alice was pulled out of her reverie by the sudden weight of Stella leaning on her head. She tilted her head up to look into Stella's irritated face.

"What's wrong, Stella?" Alice hummed softly, so as not to attract the attention of the few people hanging around (not to mention her fellows).

"Look at this! The mood is so flappin' gloomy, I doubt we'll be gettin' any benevolessence! So much for the hard work us gals put in savin' this town! Nobody has even thanked us, let alone given us a reward." Stella sighed, and turned back into the pink ball of light, hiding back into Alice's pocket.

Alice looked around, and noticed that she was suddenly all by herself. _Where did everyone go?...Why didn't the girls tell me anything?_

Pausing, Alice figured that the girls had probably told her, but she had been too busy stewing in her own thoughts that she hadn't realized they were talking to her. Besides, it's not like Alice couldn't make her way around town to the inn by herself, but... damn them for abandoning her. They should have made sure she was listening. Haven't they been paying any attention to her at all?

Sighing, Alice took off her bandana, tying it around her neck instead, and mussed up her hair. She was rather frustrated with her conflicting emotions, they were never consistent. She couldn't quite recall the last time her feelings had been her own, it had been so long since **that** happened.

Getting away from that subject, Alice realized that it was getting dark out, and was about to go to the inn to rest for the night, when she noticed something... odd. It wasn't odd for her, but it would have been odd for any random little girl. Standing right over her own grave, was Catarrhina, in all of her innocent glory.

"...Catarrhina, what are you doing?" Alice spoke in a normal voice, since there was nobody else outside at this hour.

Catarrhina giggled, "Well... oops, hehe! I appear to be dead... W-wait a minute. You can see me, Alice?!"

Alice nodded, making Catarrhina squeal. "Oooh! That's so amazing! You did look a little... different, but I never, not even in my wildest dream, would have guessed you could see ghosts!"

"Well... I'm a Celestrian. It's my job, sort of."

Catarrhina gasped exaggeratedly, "Wow! Does that mean you're here to bring me to heaven?"

"I suppose so." _Although I doubt it exists,_" Is there something you still need to do...? Like, any last regrets, or something?"

"...You see," Catarrhina sighed, "I need somebody to cheer up my Phlegmy. I hate to see him blaming himself like this, and he won't let anybody help him get better. Do you think you can help me out...?"

"Of course." These types of requests were always the most complex, but they were worth it 100% of the time. As Stella would say, this was a "flappin' good opportunity to get more benevolessence." Besides, spirits were usually more polite, since they had to depend on the Celestrian to help them. There _were_ the rare assholes, though, just like in everyday life.

"Oh, thank you! Thank you! The first step to curing Phlegmy is to get him to come out of his musty laboratory. It's easy to get him out if I'm here, so why don't you just head down to the lab, and I'll wait for you?" Nodding, Catarrhina phased out without waiting for Alice's answer. Not like it mattered, because she had to cooperate if she wanted to get anything accomplished. Alice quickly made her way over to the laboratory, because she wanted this to only take place at night. The darker it is, the less likely people will see her talking to "herself".

* * *

Alice had arrived first, and stared at the wooden door. It was obviously going to be locked, but she was all alone, and had nothing to do, so she tried just once. Of course, it didn't budge.

"You won't have any luck doing that, Alice." Alice turned to see Catarrhina standing behind her, illuminated by the light of the lit torch. "Phlegmy will only answer the door if you use our secret knock. Do exactly as I say, okay?" Catarrhina gives Alice a detailed description of how to knock.

Immediately after the last knock, Alice could hear movement from the inside. Phlegming was probably killing himself, tripping over his own two feet to get to the door.

"Catarrhina? Catarrhina, is that you?!" Phlegming burst through the door, and looked around frantically. Alice felt bad for him, still holding onto a small fraction of hope that his lovely wife was still alive. Phlegming quit freaking out, and looked down at Alice, "...Was that... Was that you knocking like that, Alice?"

Alice noddedly solemnly, and Phlegming proceeded to smash his hand against the door in frustration. "Of all the tasteless jokes out there, mimicking Catarrhina's special knock...! Don't do that! What kind of things are your parents teaching you?!"

Before Phlegming could trudge back into his lab, one of those nice men with the full-viking helmets came up to the railings on the upper level by the mayor's house. "Oi! Phlegmin'!"

Phlegming turned to see the man, who waved a gloved hand at him, "Glad I caught 'ya. I've got a message for ye. Ev'ryone in Coffinwell says thanks fo' savin' us, an' all that. We sure do owe 'ya!... Oh yeah, an' we're all 'opin' you'll be back on your feet soon. We're all worried about 'ya, y'know?"

Catarrhina tapped Alice gently on the shoulder, "Alice, dear, I'd like it if you could pass on a final message to Phlegmy for me."

Phlegming narrowed his eyes in confusion as the viking man walked away, turning back to Alice, who was tugging on his coat. "...What the-?"

"Shut up and listen to me. Catarrhina wants us to go visit the victims of the plague who lived because of you." Phlegming raised an eyebrow at her. Was this little kid REALLY telling him that his dead wife wanted him to go visit people he didn't know?

"...How would you know what she wants?" Alice paused, tilting her head left and right. _Well, he's definitely not going to believe that I'm a Celestrian, because I can't quite prove it at the moment. Hm... Oh!_

Alice opened both her eyes, her eyelids fluttering from the lack of use. The glaring difference between her two eyes made Phlegming stagger back a few steps from the shock. "My eyes... allow me to see these types of things. Just do what the hell I say, and then your beloved wifey here can go up to heaven already."

Phlegming sighed, and shook his head, "...But, I wouldn't even know where to start. I don't know who was ill. All I was worried about was trying to one-up Father-in-law..."

_And that's why mortals are the dumbest species imaginable. So stupid and selfish, not minding the downfalls of others, as long as they get what they want. _Alice sighed at the lack of her own empathy. She was mildly taken by surprise when Phlegming clamped his hands on her petite shoulders, staring at her with a shocking intensity she hadn't expected from a mortal.

"...Alice, I need you to take me to see the people who were ill." Alice glanced at Catarrhina for directions, and Catarrhina nodded, guiding them towards the various houses in town where the victims lived.

* * *

The first victim was an old man, who was still lying in his bed, moaning as they walked inside. Alice stood directly beside the old man, watching him through her re-closed eyes. Phlegming was standing at the foot of the bed, being stupid as usual.

The old man kept coughing viciously, "(COUGH COUGH COUGH)... Ugh, I feel like death..."

Phlegming took another step towards the bed, standing right up against it, inspecting the man. "This can't be...! The contagion has been sealed! How can he still feel this horrible?"

Catarrhina appeared, giggling. "Oh, Alice. Can you tell him that the man's okay? He just has a cold, silly Phlegmy!"

Alice looked at Phlegming, and quietly set him straight, so as not to disturb the old man's painful sleep. Even if she didn't like them, Alice had a healthy dose of respect for old people, whether they were mortals, demons, or fellow Celestrians.

"Ah, I see... Well, that's a relief. Er, not for him, I mean. Colds are terrible."

_No fucking shit._ Alice rolled her eyes as they moved on to the next house.

* * *

Next was the church. Catarrhina didn't instruct this one, but Alice had visited the church before they had set out for the ruins, and several more times over the time it took to set up the funeral for Catarrhina, so she knew better. A young sister in her early twenties approached the duo once spotting Alice's little form. Her eyes widened when she saw Phlegming follow after Alice.

"Oh my! It is certainly a pleasure to see you out and about again, Dr. Phlegming! Please accept my deepest sympathies about Catarrhina... she was truly a wonderful young woman. I know your pain is many times deeper, but your fellow citizens of Coffinwell are grieving for her as well. She was loved by all, of course."

Phlegming nodded, "Of course. Everyone loved dear Catarrhina."

He took a quick glance at Alice, wondering why she had taken him there. There were no victims in sight, so why would she have stopped by the church to chat with the nun while they were in the middle of doing something rather important?

Alice tugged at the long sleeve of the sister, "Are you feeling better, sister?"

The nun laughed at Alice's childish charms, petting her on the head. "Yes, dear. My sickness disappeared when the contagion was sealed, after all. I appreciate your concern, but the Almighty looks over his children well. On a side note, that candy you gave me before you left that first day was delicious. Where did you get it?"

"I made it myself, for special occasions." Alice smiled, and handed the sister a small baggy of bright red candy shaped like little puppies. The sister thanked Alice, and waved at them as they exited the church.

* * *

Next was a house on the house side of town. Phlegming knocked on the door softly, not wanting to wake up the victims if they were resting. A blonde man in his late thirties opened up the door, smiling brightly when he realized that it was Phlegming at the door. There were deep bags under the man's eyes, indicating that he hadn't slept in quite a while, but he had a serene look to him.

"Dr. Phlegming! Come in, come in!" He ushered the two of them into the kitchen, handing Alice a couple of chocolate chip cookies to munch on. "I'm forever indebted to you for saving my wife and daughter."

Phlegming's eyes widened, "Your wife... **and** your daughter? Both of them had fallen ill?"

The man sighed deeply, "Oh yes, I had stayed up many a sleepless night, watching over them. I honestly thought I was going to lose them both in the end... but then you saved everyone! I owe you everything, and that's a fact."

Phlegming stared at him, bewildered. This man wasn't that old, so his daughter couldn't even be in her teens. Somebody that young had fallen prey to the contagion?

The man continued to thank Phlegming profusely as they exited the house quietly, making their way to the final stop. Alice needed no instructions from Catarrhina, because she had seen the victim herself walking around the inn ever since they had returned.

Alice knocked gently on the door to the room, and the door was swung wide open by a young lady in her late twenties, blonde hair flowing down her shoulders, with a bright white bow tied on top of her head, resembling a pair of bunny ears. She was wearing a tight black-and-green checkered dress, and even had a little bunny tail attached to the back of it. Her smile brightened when she saw Alice standing there, and reached down to pinch Alice's cheeks tightly, bringing the two of them inside without even asking what they were doing there.

Inside was a large double bed, where an old man in his late sixties seemed to be sleeping, snoring loudly. The woman had them sit down at the table, serving some tea and cookies.

"You're Dr. Phlegming, am I right?" Phlegming nodded, "The one who got rid of that nasty disease?"

"Er, yes, that's correct. Were you suffering from it too?" The woman squealed, and took Phlegming's hands in hers, squeezing them tightly once before releasing them.

"Ooh, thank you ever so much! I was thiiiiis close from having to kiss my Snugglelump goodbye for good! Now, I have all~ the time for kissing in the world thanks to you!" She grinned at him deviously, "Would you like a little smooch to show my appreciation?"

Phlegming stood up quickly, panicking. "N-no, no thank you! That's really not necessary!"

Catarrhina appeared next to Alice, who was taking her time robbing them of all their sweets, angered beyond comprehension. "Good grief! What does she think she's trying to pull?!" She shook her translucent fist at the girl, "Stay away from my Phlegmy with your seducing outfit and your adulterous suggestions!"

The three of them left in a hurry, returning to the laboratory. It was nearly daybreak now, and Alice wondered why none of the girls had come to fetch her by now. Did they just not notice that Alice hadn't returned?

As they made their way back to the lab, Stella reappeared, leaning on Alice's head as they walked. "...I can't imagine what it would be like to lose someone you thought you'd be with forever. Pretty flappin' horrible, I suppose..."

Alice's hand twitched violently with the urge to strangle Stella until her last breath came from those glossy lips, but managed to contain herself. Stella didn't mean anything by it, because she didn't know. Nobody knew.

* * *

Upon entering the laboratory, which was really more of a study/library type looking place, Phlegming turned to look Alice square in the eyes(eyelids?). "...I really must thank you, Alice. You've enabled me to see what Catarrhina had wanted me to understand... Everything I've ever done has always been for myself, and I hadn't given much thought to the people around me... even Catarrhina. If I had been more wary, I would have noticed how ill she was getting. I'm truly unforgivable, and I know that. I can only atone for my mistakes by doing good from now on. Walking around town today, I realized that it was actually bright, even though it was enshrouded in darkness. The people inside are what make a town lively, and I only now realized how many kind people reside in the same area as me. From now on, I'm going to strive to be a bigger part of the community."

He turned away from Alice now, and hung his head, embarrassed. "...And I must admit that it was... rather nice to be the object of so much gratitude."

Alice smiled at him, though he couldn't see it, and looked at Catarrhina, who bowed politely to Alice. "Thank you so much for helping Phlegmy come back to his senses. You've truly allowed me to see my dream come true, even if I'm no longer alive to see the results."

She looked towards Phlegming, who was now seated at his desk, studying something (the hell was he doing?); Alice following her line of sight. "...You see, it's always been my dream for the people of Coffinwell, and especially my father, to notice how wonderful Phlegmy is. He's a gentle soul, so I wanted him to be able to interact with everyone else, slowly growing to love the place as a whole. That's all I wanted."

Catarrhina's body glowed bright green, brighter than the normal green, for but a moment, before Catarrhina shook her head slightly, and the light dissipated. "...Even though I know I shouldn't be here anymore, that I've died and should be well on my way to heaven, I still feel like I'm needed here. I want to stay here with the people of Coffinwell, and wait for the day when Phlegming will join me in the afterlife."

Alice smiled softly, unable to finish the sweet girl off. She had the power to do so, even in this state, because she had fulfilled Catarrhina's last request, but... she couldn't do it. Alice understood the feeling of wanting to stay with your loved ones, so, with a light nod of the head, Alice allowed it.

* * *

Phlegming (and Catarrhina) had walked Alice back to the inn, apologizing for keeping her up so late. Iris had answered the door when Phlegming had knocked, and was surprised to see him standing there, but beamed at him when she saw Alice standing there. Even if she had only known Alice for but a small amount of time, she knew Alice had a mysterious effect on people, and judging by the look on Phlegming's face, he had no more troubles from Catarrhina's death.

. . .

The next day/a few hours later, everyone was much more upbeat, because Phlegming had come out of his self-confinement. He had set up a small school for the children of the town, and even managed to get that nice viking man from earlier to join, because apparently he needed the schooling.

As for the girls, they were summoned to the Mayor's house. Alice was still snoozing peacefully, so Marine and Sheila went, Iris staying behind to watch Alice sleep.

Stella flapped her wings enthusiastically, gracing them with her presence, but forgetting that Sheila could see&hear her at the same time, "Oh, look at all the benevolessence! Alice HAS to be due for some kind of promotion, making all these people so flappin' happy! She's quite the high flyer, no mistake about it!... Oh wait... Heh, I'm lucky she's not here to hear me say that this one time."

When they entered the study of the mayor, Marine were surprised to see that Mayor Laria was buried into even more manuscripts than before, even though it wasn't incredibly necessary.

Again, he was muttering things, "...Let's see here... is this a Guardian? And this... is it supposed to be a falling star? If that's so, then this should be... a flower of some sort. Oh, this is so confusing! I give up."

Marine cleared her throat, making the mayor jump slightly, giving them his full attention. "Ah, Marine!... I, er, just thought I'd try taking a shot at reading one of these old things, seeing as I have numerous shelves full of them. You see, Phlegming stopped by here a few moments ago, you just missed him. He was blubbering about some nonsense like regretting his past actions, and such. As if that wasn't enough of a bother, he then suddenly asked if he could borrow all of my old manuscripts! I was speechless! The nerve of him!"

Pausing for a moment, the mayor dug into a particularly messy pile of papers, "Come to think of it, I still haven't rewarded you ladies for acting as hiss bodyguards, have I? Hold on one moment, I put it around here somewhere... ah! Here it is!"

He pulled out a box, and handed it over to Marine. "It's not much, but we truly appreciate you gals. This is for that little girl of yours, I'm certain that it'll suit her."

The two of them left the mansion, and opened the box. Inside was a bright red headband, with a lone white-and-green feather sticking out in the center of it. Returning to the inn, they found Iris dressed in her usual attire, and Alice standing around in her weird old clothing made out of the strangest material. Alice was unusually upbeat today, even for her, but only Stella could semi-figure out the reason.

Alice would finally be able to return to the Observatory.

_It's not long now..._

* * *

**I don't care what anyone else says! That nun was sick as hell!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Don't get so used to these longer chapters. I'm just hyped about FINALLY GETTING INTO MY PLOT.**

**Also... god damn. I actually had to look up train parts because I don't know shit about trains.**

* * *

Before they left, the girls had a quick lunch at the inn. The innkeeper was adamant that the four of them have a proper meal before they left for Stornway. As they ate, they decided to discuss something rather important.

"Alice, what are you going to do now?" Marine spoke through her mouthful of food, ignoring the looks of disapproval coming from Iris.

"I'm going home, of course. There's nothing else for me to do, so I'll HAVE to be allowed to go back. Anyway, here. I made these drinks myself." Alice set down cups of a translucent black liquid in front of Iris and Marine, ignoring Sheila. "This is alcoholic, so none of this is for you, Sheila~"

Sheila pouted, cursing her younger age. Marine sniffed the drink, suspicious of the black liquid, but it didn't smell like death, so she chugged it. Instead of the alcohol-induced feelings she usually got, Marine felt... odd. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but something was different. Iris, after seeing Marine drink it and that she hadn't instantly died, drank it as well. Alice watched them do it, her trademark grin slowly reappearing on her face.

* * *

As the group neared Stornway, Alice's movements began to get a little more... extreme. Not only Alice was incredibly jittery, skipping everywhere, not being able to stay still, getting way ahead of them and just jumping around until they caught up, but she couldn't stop squealing and screeching (but it did scare off all the monsters). Iris and Marine just assumed that she was happy about saving Coffinwell from the contagion, but Sheila knew better.

_**". . .Alice's full Celestrian powers will be regained!"**_

Sheila looked at Alice from the corner of her eyes, _So Alice is actually a Celestrian... and now that she's done these things, she's leaving the mortal realm? We'll never see her again...?_

She brewed over similar thoughts all the way back to Stornway, where Alice bid them farewell, waving enthusiastically as she and Stella skipped off towards the mountains, excited for seemingly no reason. Marine was slightly confused about that. _Isn't Angel Falls the only town in that direction? Alice isn't from Angel Falls._

Iris saw both of her younger friends staring after Alice as she ran off, and tilted her head back and forth trying to make a decision. _They want to go. They want to go and see where Miss Alice is going, but is that really necessary? Surely, she'll come to visit... but._

With one last glance at her friends, Iris made her decision with a firm nod of the head. She reached out both of her arms, and took the two girls in a headlock (covering their mouths to prevent Alice from hearing their surprised screams), quickly dragging them behind her as she trailed after Alice.

. . .

The girls finally caught up to Alice, who was in the middle of a large clearing, seeming to be chatting with Stella, before Stella flew forward, and disappeared. Alice laughed, and followed after her, also disappearing. The three of them quickly made their way to where Alice disappeared, staring at the clearing. The only thing in view was a fallen tree, but there's no way that they could just disappear.

Marine started to get a terrible headache, and clenched her eyes, shaking her head slightly to get rid of it. When she opened her eyes... she saw that in front of her was a large, golden train. There was only one rail car, but it was off to the side, detached from the engine.

Sheila looked over at Marine, who looked like she couldn't believe what she was seeing, and then back at the train. It wasn't an uncommon thing for Sheila to see; in fact, she was rather used to it, but what if Marine was seeing the same thing...?

"Marine, do you see it too?" Sheila smiled at Marine, tilting her head to look at Marine around Iris (who had dropped them to the ground moments ago). Marine gave a short, uncertain nod of the head. Sheila stood up, renewed with vigor from having a fellow friend seeing the same things as her, dusted herself off, marched up to the door to the engine, and threw it open.

Inside was a glowing interior, with golden structures, and green-ish blue flooring. At the front of the helm was Stella, who was fiddling with the controls. Standing behind her, looking somewhat disturbed, was Alice, who instantly swung her head towards Sheila at the sound of the door opening.

"...What the... What are you doing here, Sheila?!" Alice's eyebrows shot way up, shocked at the sight of her.

"You're going back to your Celestrian Palace, right?! I wanna come with!" Alice froze in place, not knowing how to handle this, but then an idea occurred to her.

"...Sheila, where are Iris and Marine?"

Sheila jutted her thumb behind her, "Outside. I think Marine's having heart problems from the sight of this pretty train."

"Well, the Starflight Express is pretty extravagant." Alice snickered, "You guys can come in, if you want. We'll be taking awhile to reach lift-off status."

Sheila beamed, and rushed out of the cabin to get Iris and Marine, leaving Alice behind, who instantly returned to her prior thoughts.

_**Alice and Stella had just arrived back at the Starflight Express, but before they could get to the door, an eerie, cloaked spirit appeared in front of them, staring off distantly.**_

_**Stella leaned her head back, taking the stranger in. The ghost was definitely a girl, having the most basic feminine features, and clear, crystal-blue eyes that were slightly glazed over. "...Blimey! This gal looks like she could use some cheering up. Hey, Alice, this gal's obviously a ghost. Why don't 'ya ask her what's up? Maybe she just needs an ear to cry into."**_

_**Alice stared at the ghost, too surprised to say anything. The girl spoke, tilting her head downwards and shaking it. "...He's not here..."**_

_**Stella returned her attention towards the girl, slightly confused. "What was that?"**_

_**Again, the girl shook her head. "He's not here either..."**_

_**With that, the girl walked off, disappearing in that way that ghosts do. Stella shook her fist with anger, "Wow, charming! Couldn't even give us the time of day! Dead mortals are so flappin' rude!"**_

_**"...Putting that aside... Stella, why don't we get back to repairing the Starflight Express?" Alice smiled timidly, but it went unnoticed by Stella, who laughed, and flew ahead of her, entering the Starflight without responding. Alice gave a short glance over to where the girl had disappeared, and followed after Stella.**_

Alice shook her head, sighing. _No... that's impossible, isn't it? She wouldn't be here. She has no reason to be here. It wasn't her._

"...A-Ahem." Alice looked up, and saw her three former(?) companions standing there in the entrance. With a grin, Alice forced her thoughts to the back of her head.

_That can wait for later; right now, I have more important matters to take care of._

* * *

". . . .And then I crashed into the falls." Alice had given a shortened version of her story as Stella continued to fiddle with the controls. Sheila, who knew the more important things, wasn't all that shocked. Marine and Iris, however...

"You mean you're not really 5-6 years old?!" Marine's eyes widened, having realized that if Alice was an immortal being, there was nothing that said that the Celestrians didn't age slower then them.

"What?" Alice raised an eyebrow, "No, I'm not. Why in the world would you think that? I look nothing like a five-year-old."

The others turned their eyes away from Alice, a collective thought almost visible in the background. _You totally look like a little kid, though..._

"...Ah-ha! Here we go!" Stella let out a cheer of excitement as she pulled on a lever, and smashed her hand into a button. The entire cabin shook violently as it lifted off the ground, glowing brighter than before. The rail car automatically attached itself, and they zoomed upwards, quickly escalating up the height-charts. Marine stared at the lone window in the car, and almost got sick from how high up they were, not to mention how fast they were going.

"...YES! I DID IT! I DID IT!" Stella cheered, throwing her hands in the air.

"Woohoo! Ahahahaha!" Sheila laughed from the thrill, while Iris just sat on the ground, having fallen from the sudden movement of the train. Alice, however, was at the helm with Stella, helping her steer and making sure that Stella actually knew what she was doing. Something told her that being a stewardess wasn't Stella's first job-option.

* * *

"Wow! Is that where you live, Alice?" Sheila smiled as she looked out the window, amazed by how big the Observatory was, and how it seemed to be floating in the sky. She didn't seem to pay any attention to the ominous dark purple clouds that surrounded the place, or even the flashes of lightning and claps of thunder.

"...Yeah." Alice's tone sounded slightly off, as she frowned at the sight, before slipping back into her happy-form that she had before this whole thing had happened.

"Okay! Here we go, a niiice little stop... Oops!" Stella swore under her breath as she slightly lost control, causing the train to come to a violent stop, slightly scraping the rails of the Observatory. "...Oh well, we landed, at least."

Alice gave a shrug at that, while the others were tangled about all throughout the cabin, heavily jarred from the landing. Alice looked up when her sharp ears caught wind of voices outside. _...Ah, it's Apus Major._ She threw open the door, and calmly exited, signaling the others not to come out yet. In a bright white light, out came Alice, smiling happily.

"B-By the stars!" Apus Major staggered a few steps back, surprised to see what almost looked like a mortal appear in the Observatory, but upon a closer look... "A-Alice?! Is it truly you? What are you doing aboard th-"

His eyes, though old and worn, bugged out when he noticed a most important detail. "W-What is this?!" He approached her quickly, patting her shoulders and her head, "Y-Your wings... your halo! What horrors have fallen upon you, child?"

"Ah... When I fell from the Observatory, my wings and halo disappeared. It was most likely caused by that strange burst of purple light that blasted me in the first place, causing my fall. I was in luck though, and Stella, the... captain... came to my aid, and helped me get back up here. However, she was not my only help..." Alice turned back towards the Starflight, and dragged out the shaken forms of her companions, who were now forever scarred by Stella's terrible flying skills. "These mortals assisted me greatly, so I granted them sight. With their help, getting the Starflight back in working order was easy."

Apus Major nodded throughout Alice's speech, taking it all in. "It is surely a miracle that you have returned to us, Alice, but... what became of the other Celestrians who are gone to realm beneath? Why have you alone returned to us?"

Alice felt her insides twitch furiously, but remained calm. She couldn't afford one of her outbursts here. This was not the mortal realm, this was the Observatory, where she has resided for many years. Not only that, but Apus Major wasn't alone. There were some adult Celestrians accompanying him, and Alice could feel their subtle looks of anger. As angry as she was, Alice did not want to infuriate the others more than they already were. It'd be a bad idea to make uneasy people angry.

Apus Major, however, realized his blunder instantly from the silence that emitted from Alice (not to mention the not-so-subtle daggers he was receiving from a certain mortal), "...Forgive me, Alice. Your homecoming is most important to my heart, and is plenty reason to give our thanks to the Almighty."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, leading her away from the others, "Now, you must tell this old man the events that you've witnessed in the Protectorate..."

The two of them got away quickly, leaving only the mortals and the adult Celestrians (who had turned their glares to the non-Celestrians). Marine was returning their glares full-force, but Iris smiled calmly at them.

"Excuse me, but do you know where we could wait for Miss Alice? We are slightly... tired from the journey up here." Iris picked up Sheila, who had banged her head against some metal contraption, and was instantly knocked out.

Luckily, one of the adults was kinder than the other two, and was able to put aside her unease about the recent events. It was her job to take care of mortals, after all. "Of course, come this way and I'll bring you to her quarters."

* * *

It was a long walk made even longer by the amounts of stairs there were. Marine was quickly getting frustrated with how many stairs there were. _Why are there even stairs in the first place? These guys fly! Arghh!_

After the long, long, LONG walk, they finally arrived at a large, white door at the end of an dark and empty hallway on the bottom floor. On the door was a large, black plaque with the name _**ALICE**_ written in big, bold, dark red letters, the paint having dripped sometime after it was made, giving it an eerie feeling. The kind Celestrian was clearly unwilling to touch the door, and gestured towards the room, sweating slightly.

"W-Well, this is where Alice's quarters are located. I'm sure she won't mind if the three of you go in. I'll be sure to tell her where you three are, so just wait here for a while." Before the lady could escape, Marine grabbed her elbow, tugging her back somewhat roughly.

"How can you be sure that you'll find her in this big place so quickly?" Marine gave her a suspicious look. The attitude these people were displaying towards Alice was getting annoying.

"...I'm positive that Alice will go... _there_ after her report to Apus Major. And if she's not _there_, then she's gone to locate Columba, who has been friends with her for ages." Finding the explanation sufficient, Marine released the nervous woman, who quickly flew away from them, leaving behind a slight breeze.

_These Celestrians are frickin' weird._ Marine shook her head at their antics, and opened the door to Alice's room.

* * *

_Meanwhile, with Alice..._

". . .and that's pretty much everything that happened." Alice smiled at Apus Major from across the table, taking a small sip of her usual drink. It was a good thing she had bought all those holy waters back in Stornway, because doing good deeds made her really thirsty. It had been a real hassle, forcing herself to eat mortal food. Celestrians don't need to consume anything, but Alice still likes to drink holy water. It helps that she can remember those times when she was able to do things like this more easily.

"So, the Protectorate is being swarmed by monsters, the undead are coming back to life, and diseases from long ago are reappearing. That is the gist of what's happening, correct?" Alice nodded, "And you didn't see a single other Celestrian on your journey?"

Alice shook her head, "No, Apus. I did not spot a single other Celestrian."

Apus Major let out a long, drawn out sigh. "I see. So the mortals are also experiencing dark times..." He gestured over to the main upper-lobby, where only a few Celestrians were scattered. "Just as you had fallen, my dear, many others had also fallen to the Protectorate below. Not only that but... Yggdrasil's sacred fruits that we Celestrians have been awaiting for these last couple of centuries... they have also fallen to the mortal realm. A great number of our survivors descended to the Protectorate to search for the fallen, the fyggs, and the source of the attack, but alas... As of yet, you are the only one that has returned to us."

"Really?" Alice was amazed. Only she, the (possibly) only one who no longer had her wings, was able to make it back to the Observatory. Not the snooty elders, the annoying gossips, or the bratty newbies. It was Alice.

**Alice, and only Alice.**

She was brought back by the depressed tone Apus suddenly had, "We've been anxiously waiting for those still missing, but... it is a wonderful miracle that at least you have returned to us, Alice. I've always felt that you were like a granddaughter to me, despite our differences. You must be sure to go give thanks to Yggdrasil for ensuring your safe return, but... it's understandable if you go and comfort Columba first."

"...Comfort her? Why? Is she okay?" Alice was slightly worried. Even though Columba was not her mentor, they had been friends for as long as Alice could remember. Sure, their friendship had really only initiated because of Aquila, and might not have happened otherwise, but they were friends nonetheless, and Alice did not have many of those to spare.

"Yes, she's alright." Alice didn't wait for another word, and rushed off towards the library, Columba's post. She had a bit of trouble with the doors, which suddenly wouldn't open, for some reason. Stella's ball-form flew around her, circling Alice like the planets circle the sun.

"Alice, it's time for the two of us to part. I've brought 'ya back to the Observatory sound and safe, just like I promised. Uh... good luck, and stuff like that. It was nice knowing 'ya, Alice." Stella waved, and flew off back towards the Starflight.

Putting that aside, Alice refocused on the door, which still wouldn't budge. She heard footsteps coming from behind, and quickly swung around to face the newcomer, only to be face-to-face with Hope (Columba's apprentice). Hope was slightly teary in the eyes, and grabbed Alice's hands without her usual hesitance, sniffling.

"Oh, Alice! I didn't believe them when they said you had returned, but... here you are! Praise be the Almighty!..." Hope trailed off, and looked around, confused. "...Aquila is not with you?"

Alice shook her head, being civil despite her hands feeling like they were on fire. "No, I haven't seen him since before the calamity."

Hope returned her hands to her sides, looking slightly disturbed. "...But when you fell to the Protectorate, he..." With a sigh, Hope shook her head, smiling again. "It matters not. You should go seek Columba, she will be immensely relieved to see you alive and well. She and Aquila feared the worst when you were shot by that beam of light and sent hurling down towards the Protectorate. You can't get in the library because she hasn't returned since the calamity. Ever since the day you fell, she could be found on the floor below us..."

Alice turned, and without even so much as a "thank you", quickly made her way downstairs. She did not need to be told where on the floor Columba was. Alice knew perfectly well where Columba would be.

Alice glared at the door in front of her, which held the room Columba was in. It was her most hated place in the entire damned building. Inside was the lone gravestone that had ever existed on the Observatory. Alice loathed it with a passion. It made **her** very upset; furious, even, and Alice was a very loyal being. If **she** hated it, so would Alice. Even if it was the best thing to ever happen, Alice would hate it. Even if it saved all life, brought back all the fallen Celestrians that had been killed in action over the centuries, and enabled her to be reunited with her parental figure, Alice would still hate it.

_**For her, I will do anything.**_

* * *

**Now... I can go burn my brain watching sad AMVs.  
**


	24. Chapter 24

**Why does this thing say it's shorter? I worked hard on this shit. BT**

**I've been playing a lot of PMD recently. Really hyped up for when I post the first part of my trilogy (possibly in June?).**

* * *

Alice's room was weirder than the girls had initially suspected. Upon first look, it looked too big for a single person, but this must be normal for Celestrians; however, upon looking closer, there were a few areas of concern. First of all, there was no sources of light, except for a faint orange light that just seemed to be radiating from an orb encased in glass that rested on a pedestal in the middle of the room. Secondly, all walls were painted pitch black, giving it an eerie feeling. On the back wall, there was a small mural that consisted of an enormous tree, with two little children lying underneath it on the green grass. The child on the right was a bright yellow, while the one to the left was a bloody red, and they were holding hands. Where there hands connected, there was orange. Underneath the mural were these words painted in a ghostly white:

_**One day, we'll stop being ORANGE, and go back to being YELLOW and RED, together.**_

Next, there was a gigantic glass casing of numerous vials, each being individually labeled. The labels were written in an ancient language similar to the writings in the Quarantomb that Alice had deciphered. Next to it was a small bookshelf filled with unlabeled books (or were they something else? They didn't really want to go through her stuff). Finally, there was a fluffy canopy bed in the far corner of the room, much too large for a single girl. Resting on it was a single doll with no face (if you don't count the creepy grin stretching across its cheeks), but it was wearing a nice little red sundress-sunhat combo. Half of its head was shaved, save for a few strands of hair that framed the face, and was a pleasant platinum blonde.

Marine let out a low whistle, and looked at the orb with great interest. "Wow, this little thing is able to let out light?"

Sheila wandered over to the specimen containment case, incredibly intrigued by all the different objects and ingredients inside. There were mostly liquids, along with jelly-like objects, some solids, a few gases, and... one beaker, that was twice as big as the others, looked like it actually had something LIVING inside of it, with miniscule holes poked into it near the top so that it couldn't escape. It had the appearance of a tiny serpent, with a strange device at the tip of its tail that jingled beautifully when it moved. There was a tiny, fluffy bed with a warm-looking blanket in the middle of it.

"Fascinating! I haven't even seen _half_ of these things!" Sheila squealed, delighted. Even back at the academy, where she had excelled beyond expectations, she hadn't been able to accomplish everything she had wished. _Maybe if we travel just a bit more, I can see even MORE things! We'd have to find a way to cross the ocean, though... Ferries don't come to our continent very often._

Iris, on the other hand, leafed through a few of the books on Alice's bookshelf (despite Marine telling her not to do so), which, as it turned out, only had a few, fat books, the rest being odd journals. There was rarely any writing in the passages, except for the smudged dates; there was mostly just bad drawings. Iris couldn't quite tell what they were for, but in the first (or so she assumed) journal, written in clear, bold letters underneath a pair of small, but majestic wings, was the only thing written in English.

_**TODAY, I WAS BORN A TRUE, PURE BEING.**_

Iris chuckled, _Miss Alice is quite amusing._

* * *

Columba kneeled before the monument, her head bowed in solemn concentration. "Oh Mighty Corvus, please shine your guiding light upon your apprentice, Aquila, and young Alice, that they may return safely unto us..."

The door opened, and in walked Alice, looking the same as she had always had, except for the feather-band the girls had handed to her. It made her feel good about the actions she had taken. Columba looked up, startled, but nearly cried in joy.

"...Alice!" Columba stood, and enveloped Alice in a tight hug, twirling her small body back in forth in excitement that was unlike her, "Oh, praise the stars above that you are unharmed!"

After five minutes of such actions, Columba noticed Alice's quietness, and realized what she was doing, she set Alice down, thoroughly embarrassed. Coughing, Columba asked her main question, after she looked around.

"Where has Aquila gone?"

Alice shrugged, "I dunno. You're guess is probably as good as mine. I haven't seen 'im."

"...I see." Columba looked down, her shoulders sagging slightly, "...I was certain that you two would be together..."

"What do you mean?" Alice rose an eyebrow. Sure, the two of them were kind of close, but they weren't siamese twins.

"...You mean no one informed you?" Alice shook her head, "Aquila descended to the Protectorate immediately to search for you, but, like others... he has yet to return."

Columba let out a depressed sigh, and gestured towards the monument that Alice had been ignoring with all her might, "And that's why you have found me here. I have been praying to Corvus to assist the two of you in your return. As you know, Corvus-"

"-Was the most noble and compassionate Celestrian there will ever be, and who will never be forgotten, even though several hundred mortal cycles have passed since he disappeared. I _know_, Columba!" Alice snapped, scowling. Columba could feel the tension around the girl steadily grow heavier, and put her hands up in apology.

"Yes, yes, I'm sorry. That was rather unintelligent on my part, and I apologize. It's just that... he was Aquila's master, y'know? He just... didn't want you to disappear like Corvus did. Even now, I don't doubt that Aquila is still scouring the Protectorate, just for you." Kneeling back down in front of the grave one last time, Columba clasped her hands extra tight, and bowed her head, "...Oh Corvus, legendary mentor of Aquila, please cast your guidance upon your apprentice in his most desperate hour of need."

Alice watched Columba go through the proper prayer rituals, and felt her stomach sink. She had to get out of here. Apus Major had told her to go pray to Yggdrasil, right? _I guess I'll go do that now._

* * *

Alice stood beneath Yggdrasil, which still looked as green and beautiful as it had the day of the calamity. Flowers still bloomed amongst the roots, and Alice smiled as she saw them sway in the breeze, although it was rather strong. In fact... it was _really_ strong. The wind wasn't supposed to be like this up here on the Observatory; there was a spell on the Observatory so that it would have clear weather, which allowed normal Celestrians to be able to peer down on the Protectorate. _Oh well, not my problem._

Alice went to the very base of Yggdrasil, and got on her knees, tilting her head forward so that her forehead was touching the bark. She scowled slightly, doing her best to concentrate on praying to Yggdrasil.

Soon enough, she fell asleep (praying is hard work)...

_Alice watched as a dark, red force shot a beam from above at the mortal realm, intending to destroy it, with but a small amount of interest. This was, after all, most likely just a holy dream. Nothing would actually happen to anyone._

_The hand behind the force was dissing the mortals, listing all the bad things they had done (which were all true), and ignored the potentially good things they had managed. Just as the beam was reaching Protectorate-air, a light purple beam intercepted it._

_"I beg you! Stay your hand!"_

_The hand's voice droned on about how it couldn't believe that the good force was doing this. __**Why the hell wouldn't it, you're batshit crazy! **__Alice shook her head. More words were exchanged, and Alice almost thought that she recognized the good force's voice from somewhere..._

Before she realized it, she was nearly blinded by a white light, and found herself just sprawled out over one of Yggdrasil's roots. She got up, and dusted herself off, slightly put off by the fact that she had moved so much in her "sleep". Remembering her reason for coming in the first place, Alice patted her shoulder blades and her head, but there was nothing there, just as she expected. She was not gifted with the reappearance of her wings.

Alice sighed, and was about to walk away, when she heard a faint voice calling out to her.

_...Alice, long-term Celestrian and Guardian... We are immensely relieved by your return to the Observatory..._

_...You, who were able to return without your wings or halo... Fate has chosen you, child._

_...I shall open the way before you, Alice... but first, I must... give you motivation..._

Instantly, Alice felt herself be enveloped in a bright, blue light, strengthened by a strange power. At the same time, she felt half of her soul be ripped away, and shrieked, curling into a ball, gripping her left arm hard enough to draw blood. Her body shook violently, wanting to just cave in and die right there.

Alice was alone.


	25. Chapter 25

**In this chapter we get characterization! Huzzah! Next time, we'll finally fucking get somewhere!**

* * *

Alice heard footsteps quickly approaching the tree, and was able to register the voice of Yggdrasil speaking to her one last time (though her hearing was spotty at best).

_...Alice, Celestrian and Guardian... Return once more to the mortal realm, and... you shall retrieve what has been lost... Both the fyggs, and your missing half..._

_...Please do this for the salvation of all mankind, Alice..._

Alice growls under her breath, extremely resentful of the voice. It tears her other half away, and then asks her to "save mortal-kind"? _That is blackmail!_

Apus Major came hurrying up the stairs as best an old man could. "Alice, are you alright?!"

Alice slowly got up off the ground, almost falling over from the loss of feeling in her left side. She flexed her left arm, and wiggled her toes, but she wasn't able to **feel **it. Alice stared at her hand flexing open and closed several times before she realized something, and clasped her hand over her left eye. Upon touching it, her eyelid caved immediately; her left eye was no longer there.

_Okay, so at the very least, she has the ability to see._

Alice looked back at Apus Major, and grinned. "...I'm alright. No wings or halo, but I'm okay."

Apus Major got closer to her, and patted his hands on both sides of her head. "What? Despite your most earnest prayers, Yggdrasil did not respond to her most dedicated child?" He sighed, his head sagging like a deflated balloon. "...My sincerest sympathies, Alice. It would seem that you must be strong, and endure this undivine state for a prolonged period of time."

Alice waved it off, "That's fine, Apus. It's not like I haven't been wingless before. And even if I didn't get my holy appendages back, I did get an odd dream." _A dream that makes me want to cut Yggdrasil in two, but a dream nonetheless._

"What?! Really?! What did you see?! I want every last detail!" Alice suspected that Apus didn't get out much during these past few weeks.

"Fine. Firstly. . ."

. . .

Alice took deep breaths, recovering from how much talking she had to do. She didn't appreciate speaking for long periods of time, and the fact that half of her was taken away was taking its toll on her stamina. _That's going to take some time to get used to._

"I see... An odd dream indeed. One who would destroy the world, and another who would sacrifice themselves to save it..." Apus Major stroked his white beard, "...Hmmm. I fear that, unbeknownst to us, a terrible feud may be brewing."

Alice shrugged, and Apus continued to speak. "...As tragic as losing your wings and halo are, Alice, I cannot help but think that there might be a hidden meaning in your misfortune. After all, you have the ability to ride the Starflight Express, and the mortals can see you. I myself believe that your dream may have been a blessed message from the Grand Architect Himself."

Alice inwardly grimaced at the mention of the Almighty. _He's never done anything or even spoken to me before, and now he suddenly tells me that everything hinges on __**my**__ success? But I thought..._

But, Apus was still talking, "If the voice of the Almighty has commanded that you must gather the fallen fyggs, then off to gather fyggs you shall go! Fyggs harbor the holy power of Yggdrasil, and may indeed be the key of salvation for both the Protectorate and the Observatory alike. If they have fallen towards the Protectorate, then you must collect them with haste. If a human were to consume one... I shudder at the very thought of what might happen. Do you understand what I'm saying, young one?"

"Yes, Apus. And will you stop calling me 'young one'? I'm not THAT young. Just let me go locate my companions, and I'll leave immediately."

The lady Celestrian from before appeared before them, a reminder of the three Celestrians who always follow Apus Major around for safety precautions. The two of them had completely forgotten!

"Your companions are awaiting you back in your living quarters, Alice." Alice cocked a single eyebrow at the lady, who flinched slightly, before taking off down the stairs, her left leg limping slightly from the inability to fully gauge how it was moving.

* * *

**Meanwhile, back with the girls...**

All of the girls had fallen asleep, due to waiting for so long, and from the long journey it took to get up to the Observatory in the first place (not to mention the nerves that were wrecked from Stella's terrible flying). They were having nice, lofty dreams though.

* * *

_A four-year-old Marine looked around her village. It was a nice, peaceful little band of people that didn't want to fit into terrible cities with corrupt governments. They lived off the land like REAL mortals. The village was peaceful today, just like every other day... except..._

_Marine looked around anxiously. She couldn't help but feel that something was wrong. __**Where did my brother go?**_

_She jogged out of the village gates, and looked around the long stretch of wild grass. The group lived on the plains, and it was a nice spot, but there were so many monsters roaming about. They didn't have a guardian, either, because they didn't know anything about religion back then. They only made a statue after Marine's mother died, hopeful that the Celestrians would guide their leader's wife to the great gates of the Almighty._

_A group of men in iron armor (__**Gleebian soldiers**__, Marine realized) were marching across the plains, coming out from the dark forests to the east. They were dragging something behind them. Marine, a curious little girl, crept closer to them, hiding behind some bushes. The closer they got to Marine's hiding spot, the more her face contorted in absolute anger once she realized what they were dragging._

_They were dragging MEMBERS OF HER TRIBE. Some of them even appeared to be horribly injured, or dead! A cry from the very back caught Marine's attention. __**My brother!**_

_Her younger twin brother was the only child in the group, and it looked like the soldiers were starting to get rough with him for not cooperating. They punched the kid in the side of the head, and pulled his hair (Marine had to wonder why the hell her father allowed him to grow it that long). The cries of her younger sibling reached Marine's ears loud and clear, setting her into the rampage-mindset._

_She tore out of the bushes, and kicked the soldier in the vital organs with all her might (her people were quite strong). After the soldier's grip loosened, Marine yanked her brother out of his reach, and hurled him as far as she could. Her brother landed quite a distance away, and let out a pained grunt upon impact._

_"Run!" Marine screamed at him as the soldiers dragged her away, deciding that the King would much rather have a strong, feisty servant, rather than a weak one. _

_"The King will love this group. They'll make a lovely gift for his niece."_

* * *

_ A nine-year-old Iris rolled her eyes as her younger, more serious friend worked furiously on her paperwork. It was incredibly boring work, but Marine seemed to enjoy it. __**Much better than dealing with the Princess, I suppose. **_

_It had been around four years since Marine had first arrived, filthy from the journey (not to mention the various cuts and bruises. Iris didn't have to ask to know what happened). Iris taught her everything she knew, and Marine held Iris in high regard for doing so. Sure, the situation they were in was not ideal, but it wasn't that bad. Marine worked under the General of the Gleebian Army (why they trusted a child that they kidnapped, Iris would never know), and Iris kind of just sat around, occasionally helping Marine out. Sometimes she'd give Marine lessons on "how to be a lady", because she found Marine's etiquette severely lacking, but Marine never seemed to improve._

_"Miss Marine, why are you still doing paperwork? We are supposed to be packing for our stay at the Academy." The two of them had earned a completely free scholarship at the notorious Swinedimples Academy, much to the pleasure of the King. He was most pleased that the two of them had been accepted into the Academy, even though his own daughter had been rejected. _

_"First of all, I said to stop calling me Miss! It pisses me off. Secondly, I'm just signing this last few damn stacks of papers that the stupid fucker gave to me. It's like he doesn't want me to be able to escape this hell-hole! Fucking bastard..." Marine grumbled incoherently, no doubt cursing the General to death. Iris leaned over, grabbed a pen and stamp, and took half of the papers for herself._

_"I suppose I will lend you my assistance, if it will make our expedition move along quicker. I would like to leave as soon as possible." Marine looked up at Iris, staring at her suspiciously._

_"Why?"_

_Iris smiled gently, giving Marine a creepy feeling (she had never seen Iris smile like that). "I have a friend who is attending the school already. I am quite sure the three of us will get along most well."_

_Marine sighed, and went back to work. "Whatever..."_

* * *

_A small, five-year-old Sheila held the letter tight between her tiny hands, gazing at it with a sense of wonder. It was a letter from her dear pen pal, whom Sheila admired greatly. She ran her eyes over the letter once more, still thinking that her eyes were deceiving her._

_**Dearest Miss Sheila, **_

_** It appears that Marine and I will be attending the Academy in about a week, give or take a few days. First we have to complete some last-minute paperwork that Marine's boss has assigned to her. It is quite heartwarming, seeing the usually gruff General try and keep his younger officer from leaving. It is like when a father tries to stop his daughter from leaving once she reaches adulthood.**_

_** Anyway, by the time you receive this, we may already be well on our way across the sea. I will be sure to bring you a gift from Gleeba.**_

_**Fondest of wishes,**_

_**Iris**_

_Sheila ran her eyes over the letter over and over, getting increasingly more excited. Her pen pal was going to attend school with her! Sheila would be able to see Iris, touch her, hear her voice... maybe even have a sleepover! Sheila had never had a sleepover before, because none of the other girls would invite her. They didn't like how Sheila had skipped ahead a few grades because she was amazingly intelligent. They thought she was stuck up._

_Sheila turned around, and scampered back into her dorm room to get herself ready for their arrival. She couldn't wait!_

_**With Iris here, things will surely be tons of fun!**_

_**...Oh, and Marine too.**_

* * *

Alice stared confusedly at her companions, who were just sleeping together in a huddle. Iris was at the center of it all, with Marine sleeping on her shoulder, slightly drooling. Sheila was curled up in a ball, using Marine and Iris as a bed. Sighing, Alice kicked Marine in the side, and jumped over the other side of the bed to avoid Marine's divine wrath.

Just as expected, Marine got up shouting at air for inflicting pain on her. She turned to Iris, and smacked her upside the head with all the force she could muster. Iris was knocked to the ground, waking her up, and Sheila's head had bumped into the ground the moment Marine got back up. Now that they were all grumpy and awake, Alice got up on her bed, and started jumping up and down, holding the doll that was almost her size tightly in her arms. None of the others noticed her in their heated debate of who was at fault for waking them up, but it stopped once they noticed the creaking sound the bed was making. They looked over at Alice, who stared at them with her one remaining eye, her free left hand covering the left eye.

"...Alice what are you doing?" Marine stared at her.

"Waiting for you guys to stop fighting. C'mon, we have to go get back to the Protectorate." Alice hopped off the bed, and skipped towards the door, gesturing for the others to follow. Marine, Iris, and Sheila shared a look, shrugged, and followed Alice, not knowing what they were signing up for.

"So where are we going?" Marine watched their "leader" walk in front of them cheerily, clutching the doll to her body tightly. She could tell that there was something... different about Alice, but Marine couldn't figure out was it was for the life of her.

"First, we have to go talk to Stella and get us a ride back down to the Protectorate." Alice took one leap forward, and fell flat on her face, because she had made the mistake of using her left leg as the support when she landed. Not to mention the fact that her eyesight was no longer working without her left eye being there, so she couldn't tell where she was going. _If only my right eye was enchanted as well. *sigh*_

"...As much I enjoy watching the look of a dead body, shouldn't we be moving along, Miss Alice?" Iris inwardly chuckled as she picked Alice up, and set her back on her feet, patting Alice on the head.

"...Uh, yeah..." Alice mumbled, and reached over to Marine (but actually grabbing Sheila), tore off a long strip of her skirt (despite the protests of said owner of clothing), and wrapped it around her head so that it covered her left eye. After making sure it was in place, Alice opened her remaining eye, and blinked several times to get used to the feeling of having her eye open. "...There we go. Let's get moving now."

Alice turned around, and started moving much quicker than before, making the others have to jog to keep up with her (Alice still has shorter legs, after all).

* * *

Alice leaped into the Starflight Express first, so that she could sweet talk Stella into giving them another ride. Upon opening the door, she nearly got a face-full of fairy wings, courtesy of Stella, who was pacing up and down the engine.

"...Where the flap has old fatguts gotten off to? I was sure as rain that I'd find him if we managed to get back up here, but...ugh!" Stella yanked two strands of her hair, "He must've fallen down to the Protectorate along with those other saps when the light beams struck! Looks like I'll have to go hunt the old bastard down if I ever want to get my next paycheck..."

Just as Stella was about to make another round up the pace-path, she suddenly took notice of Alice, the one-eyed wonder. "Oh flap, Alice! You surprised me. Didn't expect to see you again so soon. The flap happened to your eye?"

"Uh, it's a really long story, and I'd rather not bother."

"Yeah, I don't have time for pleasantries either, I'm afraid. Looks like I've got one hell of an annoying errand to run. Got to go and look for old fatguts, it seems."

"Well, if you're going down to the Protectorate anyway, do you mind if the gals and I tag along? We need to go gather the holy fyggs." _And I have a missing person to find,_ Alice added mentally.

Stella grinned, and flew back up to the control station in a flash. "Well, isn't that a turn-out for the books! The five of us can go together!" Marine, Iris, and Sheila quickly made their way into the passenger's section of the train, not wanting to be in the same cabin as Stella. As soon as they were given the go-ahead, Stella excitedly held up one of her hands.

"Alright! Let's... GOOOO!"


	26. Chapter 26

**A chapter with 5,085 words, just like I promised Ninja Addy! I have to upload this NOW, because on Sunday I'll be busy working on a psychology project that I should have at least STARTED, but... meh. The Prince is lazy, and tends to procrastinate on schoolwork. I'm having my long-time friend of roughly seven years, Mel, do some beta reading of the first few chapters of the First story in the PMD trilogy. Also, there is a small thing in here that is between Mel and I, 'cuz I promised him and shit.**

* * *

Alice tumbled out of the large blue oak tree, smacking her head against one of the unveiled roots. Sheila was hanging from one leg of her legs, which Iris was gripping like her life depended on it. Marine, meanwhile, was just nonchalantly sitting in the tree, having been born and raised in the wild. Alice groaned, gripping her hair with both hands. She opened her eye, and saw that everything was spinning.

_Gah...! Stella is the WORST driver! I highly doubt she is the "best flyer"._ Alice sniffed, and almost jumped when she suddenly noticed a pair of feet in front of her. Literally, feet. The person in front of her was wearing absolutely NO shoes. Looking up, Alice inspected the person thoroughly. The person (whether they were male or female, Alice couldn't quite tell) had short, dark green hair, and hazel eyes. Their skin color was relatively normal, and he/she was covered, from head to toe, in dragon armor. Well, not exactly. Instead of a helmet of any kind, the person in question was wearing a plush hat that just happened to be shaped like a dragon's head. Their hands were on their hips, looking down at Alice, confusion clear on their face.

"...Are you okay? That looked like a hell of a fall." The stranger offered a hand, pulling Alice up onto her feet. Marine, having taken Sheila from Iris for stability's sake (Sheila would never be able to get down on her own, after all), jumped down from the tree, set Sheila down carefully, and then caught Iris when she jumped.

"Thanks, Marine." Marine nodded, busy engaging the stranger in a glare-down (who just blinked obliviously). Alice, meanwhile, was much more thankful.

"Yeah, I'm okay! Just a head bump." The stranger nodded, and straightened up, pulling a pair of spikey green gloves back on.

The stranger grinned sheepishly, and rubbed the back of their neck, "Well, okay then. I have to leave now, because when I saw you falling from the tree, I kind of left my partner behind..."

However, before the stranger could even move, a VERY angry voice boomed, sending shivers down the group's spine, and the stranger started sweating nervously.

**"VEL! YOU GOD DAMN BASTARD! WHERE THE FUCK DID YOU GO?! I'M GOING TO FEED YOUR LIFELESS CORPSE TO MY FUCKING DRAGON. HE WILL ENJOY CRUNCHING ON YOUR BONES AND DRINKING YOUR BLOOD!" **There was silence for a few moments, and 'Vel' let out a sigh, about to walk off to find the owner of the angry voice, when a blur whizzed towards them, and sucker punched Vel in the side of the head, sending him/her flying for at least ten to fifteen yards.

This new person was clearly female, with short, dirty green hair, bluish-green eyes, and a seemingly permanent scowl. She was wearing a long, olive colored robe with long sleeves (much longer than the wearer's own arms, in fact), and a light green hat with two long, beaded strings that hung down, resting on each shoulder. In the middle of said hat was a white symbol of a priest. There was also a patch sewn into the left shoulder of the robe with a symbol of a dragon wing.

_Oh, wow, it's the Arenian dragon tribe. _Alice blinked, surprised. _I thought they all went extinct several hundred mortal cycles ago. I guess a few of them survived the massacre? That's..._

There was a flapping noise, and a little black dragon plopped onto the new girl's shoulder, while a little blue dragon sat near Vel's motionless body. The girl petted its snout, making it purr. "Good boy, Caius. Much better than useless Vel over there. I turn my head for just a few _seconds_, and he runs off to stare at strangers. We're supposed to be doing shit!"

Marine cleared her throat, getting the attention of the irate female. "Excuse me... but where the hell are we?"

The girl smirked, "Nice language, kid. I like it. We are currently standing below the largest tree, located in the northwestern part of the island. There is only one town, if you don't count Alltrades Abbey as one. Alltrades is right over there," She pointed to a tall tower that stood just thirty yards away, and then down to the southern part of the island, "and over there is Port Llaffan. It's a nice little fishing town, I guess, but it's boring as goddamn hell."

Vel came limping back, gripping his head that was slightly bleeding. "That really hurt, Seia! Are you sure you're a priestess?!"

Seia gave Vel another smack in the head, "Damn straight I am! Let's get going, we still have a job to do, if you hadn't fucking gotten distracted."

The little black dragon (Caius) jumped off of Seia's shoulder, and morphed into a much larger dragon. Seia jumped onto his back, and took off without waiting for her partner. Vel groaned, and was grabbed by the leg of his blue dragon (which had morphed of its own accord) and tossed on its back, before they took off as well. Alice and the girls watched after them, wondering what the hell just happened.

"What a pair of flappin' weirdos!" Stella snorted, finally making her appearance, "Let's get going. Alltrades Abbey is sure to have some sort of job we can do."

* * *

After many, MANY stairs, the four of them finally got through the front doors, only to be told that they "could not be serviced at the moment", severely confusing Alice. _"Serviced"? What is this, a brothel?...Ugh, why did I even think that. _In the far back part of the front hall was a large crowd of adventurers (and one old man), who were angrily crowding around a humble little priest, complaining about some Abbot guy.

"What are they so upset about?"

Iris sighed, "Well, it appears that the Abbot, who is in charge of helping people change their vocations, is missing."

"...A vocation?" _I don't think I've heard that before...? Or maybe I did. I guess when Yggdrasil took away my other half, all of __**her**__ knowledge left as well._

"Well... it's like the career path you are currently taking? For example, you are a minstrel. If you felt like changing your path, you would have to sign a document stating that you approve of this, and then choose a new profession. I, however, am deep into the realm of a Martial Artist. I do not think that even the Abbot could help me change my vocation at this point. Not that I mind, I quite enjoy the path I am currently walking."

Sheila popped up from behind Iris, and started rambling gleefully. "There are currently twelve different official vocations you can be in. Armamentalists are gifted in the ways of using the elements to fight. They are also incredibly fast (even faster than Marine!), and are quite well-rounded, skill-wise. Next are the Gladiators, who are widely known for being battlemasters; some can even be called 'fighting machines', I suppose. They are also fast, but Armamentalists are incredibly superior in that aspect. Most Gladiators have also been trained to be soldiers since they were younger, and can be quite loyal to their mentor. Martial artists like Iris are vastly superior than both in the speed category, and are quite strong, but they tend to have a lower defense, since martial artists need to be able to maneuver easily, so they don't wear armor.

"Next are Warriors, who are high in strength, but they're also slower and... slightly less intelligent than others," Marine glared at Sheila, who laughed nervously, "but they ARE tough and dependable, and tend to be generally nice people. Paladins are closely related to Warriors, but they're the more faith-based side. They are tough fighters, sure, but they also great tacticians, not to mention the fact that if they respect you enough, some Paladins will lay down their life for a comrade. Of course, then there are the classic Thieves. I don't think I need to explain to you what a thief is. There is only one more "true warrior" class; Rangers. Obviously, they mostly use bows. Rangers usually live in tribes, and are known for being loners. They can't use magic, but they ARE masters of the wilderness (animal-wise).

"Onto the magical side of the vocations! First off are the Priests (me!), who are servants of the Almighty! We're not that strong in battle, and we can't use offensive magic like the mages (our "stronger" counterparts), but we ARE more reliable in battle, since we're well read in the arts of light magic, i.e. healing arts. Even if we can't fight that well, a group almost always has a priest. We're super important! And then-" Sheila's tirade was cut off by Marine smacking her hand over Sheila's mouth. Marine gave her a look, her face totally drained and clearly giving off a 'speak-one-more-word-and-I-will-fucking-kill-you' vibe.

Alice giggled, "Wow, Sheila! You're really smart."

Sheila puffed her chest (Iris had yanked Marine's hand off of Sheila), looking actually capable (for once!), "Yep! I was top of the class back at the academy! Knowing stuff like that is almost elementary!"

"Oh? Well, I know somebody who might be even smarter than you~!" Alice sang, and looked back forward as the group quieted down so that the little priest could talk above all of them.

"I'm sincerely sorry, all I can do is apologize to you all. Abbot Jack is absent at the moment, so if you all could just wait a little-"

One of the fishermen at the front cut him off, quite enraged. "'Ow long are 'ye goin' to try fobbin' us off with this, eh?! We'll be standin' 'ere till we're in our graves if we believe your rubbish!"

The priest frowned, and straightened up, his voice giving off a 'this is final' tone. "I have already said that I am most dreadfully sorry, sir, but there is nothing I can do! I beseech thee to be patient for just a while longer."

The priest turned on his heels and strode off towards the backroom. The crowd roared with anger, but eventually broke up. Some of them went downstairs, others left, and still others just stood near the door. Alice stared at the old man with wide eyes, giving off the feeling of an innocent little child.

"What's wrong, mister?"

The old man looked down at Alice, and sighed depressingly. "Well child, it seems that the Abbot had gone off for a stroll yesterday, but he didn't come back. Now none of us can change our vocations! I just simply want to become a maid! I want my frilly dress and my feather duster! I refuse to move from this spot until I get my wish, and become a maid!"

Giving another sigh, the deranged old man patted Alice on the head (avoiding the feather sticking up from the headband). "Well, it's nothing you need worry about, child. Run along."

Before Alice had the chance to move, Marine swooped in and grabbed Alice, holding her protectively as she backed away from the old man. She had heard the old man ranting about his desire to be a maid, and she did NOT like it. _I don't care HOW old Alice is, this is NOT acceptable talk in front of a child! Creep!_

Alice sighed at the gesture, puffing her cheeks out poutily. "I'm not a child, Marine! Put me down! Don't you see? This is a perfect chance to do some detective work!"

Alice jumped out of Marine's arms, almost falling on her face from the impact to her left leg (she still wasn't used to not being able to feel it), and ran through the door. Marine groaned, and followed her inside. Iris and Sheila, on the other hand, rolled their eyes at their companions (Iris), giggled (Sheila), and went down the stair to gather information in the dining hall.

* * *

Alice looked up at the priest, beaming. The priest was slightly caught off-guard when Alice and Marine had popped in, but was glad to see that it was only them, and not the entire mob.

He crouched down to look Alice in the eyes, "W-welcome to Alltrades Abbey, my child. Have you come to change your vocation...?"

"Hm~? No, although it does sound like fun, we didn't come here for that! We're looking for a shining yellow fruit, about this big, with nice healthy green leaves." Alice used her hands to estimate the size, humming a little as she tried to recall how big said fruit had been.

"...Oh? A fruit?" The priest relaxed considerably, "Well, you're in luck. Abbot Jack was given a fruit that matches your description as a gift just yesterday by a person who came to change their vocation. I think that person is still in the Abbey somewhere. If you look around, I'm sure you'll find something out."

Alice nodded, and lead Marine out of the room and down the stairs by the hand.

. . .

While Marine went to find the person who had exchanged the fygg, Alice had gone on down to the dining hall to locate Sheila and Iris, and maybe gather some more info. She didn't see the two girls in question, but Alice just attributed that to the fact that the dining hall was packed full of people. _Lots of people want to change their fate, eh?_ Alice snickered. She noticed that there was an open spot at the bartender's counter, so she quickly made her way over and hopped up onto the stool, propping her face up on her hands in an angelic fashion.

The bartender, who was drying a glass with a rag at the time, raised an eyebrow questioningly at the newcomer. "Can I help you...?"

"Maybe! Have you seen a shining fruit, perhaps?"

The bartender stopped his ministrations, stroking his beard in contemplation. "...Hm. A shining fruit, you say? As much as I like to dabble in the culinary arts, I'm afraid I don't have anything like that. If you go ask that maid over there, you're sure to be more in luck. She's an expert on sweetness, if you know what I mean!"

With a wink, the bartender gestured towards a young maid in her late twenties/early thirties, long brown hair put up in a messy bun. Alice rolled her eye at the bartender's flirting demeanor, but indulged in his advice, approaching the maid. Alice lightly tugged on her skirt to gain her attention, and the maid crouched down to look Alice in the eyes (_Why is everyone looking at me like this? Gah! How degrading!)_.

"What's wrong, child? Did you get separated from your parents?" The maid smiled gently, though Alice couldn't help but be irritated by the assumption that she was a lost child.

"No, I'm not _**lost**_. I just wanted to know if you'd seen a shining fruit." The maid tapped her chin, thinking hard, and then snapped her fingers once remembering yesterday.

"Ah, a shining fruit? In fact, I _have_ seen one! Just yesterday, in fact. The Abbot had one with him yesterday when he came in for lunch. It's natural for him to always have some kind of fruit, because he's sort of a fruit maniac, you know. He loves to have fruit for his dessert, so I peeled it for him after he finished his lunch. The Abbot said that he'd been given it as a gift by a man who wanted to become a martial artist. Wasn't that sweet of him?"

Alice hummed, nodding politely. She thanked the lady and left, having spotted Sheila and Iris eating at a table in the far corner of the room, located right next to a beautiful fountain. Alice hopped up onto one of the empty seats at the table, smiling at the two of them.

"Hi!"

Sheila took a bite of her apple, and set it down. "Did you find anything out?"

"Yep! The Abbot definitely was in possession of one of the fyggs, but it seems like he ate it... how am I supposed to get it back now?" Alice sighed, not liking the prospect of having to kill a nice little old man just to get back a fruit. It WAS really important though, and it IS her duty as a Celestrian, but...

_I really hope things don't lead to that._ Alice winced, flinching slightly, _I don't think I can do that._

"That's okay, Miss Alice. We'll think of something. The fygg is a celestial artifact, so I doubt it can be digested by a mere mortal being." Iris soothed Alice's nerves, having sensed the spike in Alice's anxiety. Alice sighed, allowing her shoulders to slump comfortably.

"You're probably right, Iris. I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Marine went to find the guy who gave the fygg to the Abbot, so we probably have some time, given that this place is so packed."

Sheila smiled, her eyes shining. "You're right! I think we should try to book a room for the four of us while it's still daylight, otherwise it'll be full."

Iris nodded, and signaled to the maid from earlier that she was ready to pay. She handed over a few gold coins for the meal, and the three of them went over to the inn part of the Abbey, located in the back part of the bottom floor. It was very large, and had many rooms. Iris went up to negotiate with the lady at the front desk, since Iris has a way with talking. It only took five minutes for Iris to talk her way into getting a nice room for the four of them, though it only had three beds. She sauntered back over to Alice and Sheila, and led them to their room.

It was fairly big, with two single beds, and one slightly bigger bed in the far corner. There was an impressive display of flowers on a table with some chairs in the dining corner of the room. Apparently they do room service. There was also a door that led into a bathroom that had a tub built into the floor, big enough to fit all four of them, with some room still available. _Well, that's a pleasant surprise. _Iris smiled, _It almost looks like the baths back home._

"Well, there's no way Marine will be able to find us, since she doesn't know we have a room in this inn, so I suppose I'll go search for her. Why don't you two take a bath and get ready for bed?" Iris suggested with a shrug as she walked out of the room, off to find her non-intelligent friend. Alice and Sheila exchanged a look, and jumped at the chance to take a relaxing soak in a nice, hot bath.

. . .

The tiles of the bathroom floor were now firmly coated in soapy water, thanks to Sheila and Alice engaging in a friendly I'm-going-to-kill-you-with-these-bubbles contest. Alice managed slipping several times as she tried to leave the bathroom, always due to her left leg not being placed well, and her left arm failing to steady her body, but Sheila didn't comment on it, and for that, Alice was thankful. She did NOT want to have a in-depth discussion with ANYBODY on what was wrong with her, because that story took place across the span of so many hundred of mortal cycles that it never failed to give Alice a headache just thinking about it. Not just that, but Alice really would only have one half of the story; the other half belonging to HER other half.

After getting dressed in a nice white nightgown (provided by the inn's staff, for some reason), Alice crawled into one of the beds, and instantly fell asleep, entirely exhausted from the days events.

* * *

_The first thing Alice thought was that she was chilled down to the bone, and enshrouded in darkness. She reached out with her arms, trying to figure out her whereabouts. Upon reaching out, Alice's hands bumped into a surface; it was obviously a wall, so Alice felt around until she found that she was in a very narrow place, just barely big enough for her to sit in, but it had a tall ceiling. An overwhelming sense of fearful familiarity washed over her, and Alice curled up into a ball, clutching her knees so tight that her fingernails dug into her legs._

_**I want to get out**_

_**I want to leave**_

_**I don't want to be here**_

_**I don't want to be here!**_

_**I DON'T WANT TO BE HERE, LET ME OUT!**_

_She screamed for what felt like hours, trying to break out of her solid container. Alice found that it was made with a special type of metal, and it seemed to be draining her energy rapidly. Finally, Alice gave up on getting out, and just sat there, whimpering softly, her voice already having become hoarse. Suddenly, she noticed that there was a small degree on light shining down on her from above. Alice swung her head up so fast she should have gotten whiplash, but she's Alice so she didn't. Alice felt all her fears wash away in a calming wave as she looked up at a full moon, seemingly directly above her. There were no stars out, just like always, so Alice had a perfect view of pure moonlight._

_Sometimes, it had felt like the moon was mocking her, but it was always there when Alice was feeling down. Almost as if it was watching after her, making sure that she was alright, even if she was trapped like this. Alice reached out a hand, and placed it over the moon, flexing her fingers as if she was holding it. Someday, she would be able to join the moon up in the sky._

_Alice placed her head back down on top of her arms, and slowly closed her eyes. Behind her eyelids, Alice could see a hand reaching down through the bars of her container, the figure behind it blocking out the moon. The moon almost acted like a crown, making the figure look even more heavenly. She could hear the giggles escape of her savior's throat, and could feel the soft hand that had saved her._

* * *

Marine looked around the dining hall, confused as hell. _I thought I told Alice to stay here with those two so that I could find them. Gah! That's what I get for thinking that she understood me, I guess. No matter how old she is, or looks, she still acts like a little kid!_

Marine sighed, and took a seat at the bartender's counter. The crowd had ebbed considerably, since it was getting late and people were either leaving, or checking into rooms at the inn part of the Abbey. It was relatively quiet now, much to Marine's pleasure. She didn't like loud places; working at the inn for Patty had been utter hell, even though it wasn't very busy back then. _Or maybe it was just because I hate the sound of that damned woman's voice._

Marine ordered a single glass of wine, and took small sips of it as she looked around at the remaining people. _...What if Alice was kidnapped? I mean, she DOES look like an adorable child, and some people are fucking creepy like that. That old maidman guy from earlier... I wouldn't put it past him. He didn't look too sane. Sheesh... I should probably hurry up and find one of the girls. Two people looking is better than one person looking, eh? Better chance of finding more than a dead body._

Marine paused her inner thoughts, glanced down at the wine glass in her hand, and silently put it back on the counter. _I should probably stop drinking. I don't think Alice can die anyway, what with being a Celestrian and all._

Suddenly, a hand clamped down on Marine's shoulder, making her jump and almost punch her "attacker". Looking over at the person, Marine saw that it was only Iris, who had sat down beside her while Marine was thinking. Iris chuckled at the face Marine had made.

"Sorry, it's just that you didn't look like you were going to be getting away from this bar anytime soon. C'mon, the girls are waiting for us; I booked us a room in the inn. It's a nice room. There's only three beds though..." Iris shrugged, linking her arm with Marine's.

Marine smirked, "Oh yeah? Well, that's not a problem. You're probably gonna share a bed with Sheila, aren't you?"

Iris narrowed her eyes dangerously at her, "...If we weren't friends for fourteen years, I swear I'd punch your lights out."

"Aw, you didn't say _BEST_ friend of fourteen years! I'm so heartbroken, my darling Iris!" Marine rolled her eyes, taking great amusement in how Iris was now getting increasingly uncomfortable. Sheila, unbeknownst to her, was Iris's one-and-only weakness. Sheila was Iris's "most important friend", though Marine's long since had her suspicions that it was more than just that. Iris's attitude would always do a complete 180 when Marine brought this subject up, which just egged her on even more. It was always nice to have the upper hand on Iris, for once.

* * *

Sheila looked up from her book that she had picked up off one of the bookshelves included with the room at the sound of the door opening. Her eyes sparkled when Iris walked in with Marine, but gave a small frown when she realized that Iris looked slightly angry about something. Sheila didn't like it when her friends felt upset about anything, and she always tried to make things better (though it usually just made things worse).

Sheila made her move when Marine closed the bathroom door, having decided to take a late-night shower. "Iris~ Is something wrong?"

Iris, having finished changing into her nightgown, looked over at Sheila. "...No, why are you asking?"

Sheila shrugged, "I dunno. You just look... on edge, I guess."

"I suppose I just feel a tad overwhelmed. A good night's sleep should do me good." Iris yawned, and looked around. "Where's Miss Alice?"

Sheila gestured over to one of the smaller beds, where Alice lay sprawled out across it. "She fell asleep around an hour ago. She keeps moving around and mumbling, but won't wake up when I shake her. I guess Alice is a heavy sleeper."

Iris walked over to Alice's bed, and tucked her into the covers. With a final sigh, Iris walks over to the largest bed, and quietly got under the covers herself, dimming the light of the lamp by her bedside. Marine came out from the bathroom, having gotten dressed inside the bathroom, took one look at Sheila, who was still just sitting in a chair, glanced at Iris, and then got into the smaller bed beside Alice's. Sheila stayed still, sitting in her chair, taking turns looking at each of her companions, but her eyes always trailed back over to Iris. Minutes ticked by, and around a half hour after the others were all asleep, Sheila climbed into bed beside Iris, and fell asleep as well.

* * *

The next morning they payed the priest from before another visit, hoping that he knew one of the Abbot's common go-to places. Stella was upset that "fatguts" didn't seem to be here, but she was at least big-minded enough to congratulate Alice (who was still sleepy, despite having slept the longest) on possibly having caught whiff of one of her fyggs.

The priest smiled at Alice when he spotted her coming towards him, having changed back into her purple poncho she had been wearing back in Coffinwell. "Ah, it's you, child. Do you need something?"

Marine took a step forward, "We're wondering if you know anywhere the Abbot might go to. After talking with some people last night, we found out that the Abbot left directly after eating that fruit we were looking for."

"Oh? You're sure? Why would he do that?"

Sheila gave him a sad puppy look, "Well, I messed up during an experiment, so the fruit is kind of... blessed with... holy powers(?), and it might influence certain actions."

"Is that so? Let me think..." The priest stood there, with a blank look on his face for a few moments, before he snapped his fingers, "Ah! Of course! There is a Tower to the east, the Tower of Trades, that used to be used for the vocational changing rituals many years ago, but nowadays its overrun with monsters. Under normal circumstances, the Abbot would, of course, never go near the place, but... if that fruit is as dangerous as you have implied, his better judgment may have been clouded, and his inner curiosity got the better of him.

"Oh my...!" The priest frowned, "As much as I'm reluctant to ask complete strangers to perform a task of any kind, I'm afraid I have no other choice but to plead that you ladies may go to the tower and bring the Abbot back? We men and women of faith are not able to battle the monsters, but you four look much tougher than most of the people in the Abbey at the moment."

Alice grinned, and shook the priest's hand. "Sure! No problem!"

The priest sighed in relief, "Oh, bless your souls! All you have to do is give a short, formal bow in front of the tower to enter."

Iris nodded, and picked Alice up, leading the group out of the Abbey, and down the many stairs. After they reached the last step, Iris set Alice down.

"Why'd you carry me out, Iris? I can walk by myself." Alice whined.

"Not very well. You haven't been... functioning correctly since we left the Observatory. What has happened to your left eye?" Alice froze, and looked away. _There's no way she'll just leave me be... I guess it's for the best that I at least give them somewhat of an explanation._

"It's a... 'blessing' from Yggdrasil. She took away half my bodily functions as 'motivation' to gather the fyggs, and even took away my important person. Now **she's** stranded somewhere in the Protectorate, and..." Alice's voice quieted to a low whisper, "...I'd really just like to have her back. Can we just go? I want to get through this as soon as possible."

Iris smiled, and patted Alice on the head. "But of course, Alice."

* * *

**Oh yeah, I made a little cover for the story. Looks nice, doesn't it? I forgot the eye patch, but whatever. I'll fix it later.**


	27. Chapter 27

"...Woooooow." Marine let out a low whistle at the sight of the tower.

Alice had initially thought it simply just looked so _large _because she was so _small_, but even the others agreed that it was big. A total of seven stories tall, the Tower of Trades was solidly built, albeit a tad overgrown with vines, weeds, and moss. The windows were dark and unable to been seen through, apparently darkened by the collection of dust over the many years that the tower had been abandoned. There was a dark gloomy atmosphere hanging around the place, wrapping it up tightly, making it almost impossible to look at it without getting a shiver tingling your spine. It looked disturbingly delightful, and Alice noted that her other half would love this kind of place. _I'll have to remember to bring her here._

Marine, the impatient young woman that she is, completely forgot about the "spell" on the tower, and tried to break the doors down with her spear. She tried everything; punching, kicking, stabbing, picking the lock with tip of spear (tried to, anyway; there was no keyhole), and, finally, banged her head against the door in defeat. Iris shook her head at the stupidity of it all, and finally just walked right up to the doors, shoved Marine over the ledge of the stairs, sending her crashing down into the rose bushes, and gave the door a deep, low bow. There were a few moments of silence, and then the doors slowly creaked open, squeaking loudly; almost as if they hadn't been opened in years, even though the Abbot had quite possibly been there just yesterday.

The four of them stepped inside, and looked around the hall's entrance, only to be ambushed by a bunch of small knights in iron armor, riding on medium-sized green slimes. Alice shrunk back, narrowly avoiding getting her face cut up something awful. The knight who had tried to attack her growled at his failure, and kept trying to hack at Alice, who in turn kept backtracking. Marine and Iris made quick work of the other knight, who was dumb enough to try and take down Sheila, who was immediately saved. They turned to see Alice practically getting chased up and down the corridor by her attacker, not making any move to take her sword out of its sheath. They were perplexed; why wasn't Alice attacking? They'd seen her take out countless enemies, run off to ambush them, and practically cover herself in monster blood, so why couldn't she take care of one little knight?

Lady Luck decided to strike Alice with a lightning bolt of bad fortune, because her left leg stumbled over a rock, and she was unable to recover in time, forcing her to fall backwards, smacking her head against the stone tiles. A strangled whine coated in shock came out of her mouth as she curled up into the fetal position, holding her head tightly. The knight loomed over her, sword held up for the final blow, but Iris was not going to let him have his way. She jumped forward, her bare feet feeling cool against the dirty stone, and she dragged her claws across the torso of the knight. After the initial hit, the knight fell off of his steed, who fled like a bully after they get their ass beat by the school nerd, leaving the knight lying there in a puddle of blood, still slightly conscious. The knight let out pathetic whimpers, sadly, Iris was not in the mood for mercy that day, but she did give him a quick death, stabbing her sharpest claw into his heart (or, where she assumed his heart was located).

Once the knight had stopped moving, Sheila came over and checked up on Alice, who was still curled up. "Alice, you have to move your hands, I need to see if your head's bleeding."

Alice only groaned in response, and moved her hands. Sheila gingerly touched the back of Alice's head, being careful not to elicit any unnecessary pain, and pulled her hand back to see that it was lightly coated in blood. Sheila frowned, concerned, and placed her hand back on Alice's head, this time with no gentleness. A white glow surrounded her hand as she used her healing magic to close up the small wound. After a few more minutes Alice sat up and gave Sheila a grateful smile. She stood up with the help of Marine, who had been standing in the background, preventing other monsters from getting closer. Alice assured the trio that she was fine, and they pressed on, though Sheila secretly kept a close eye on her.

* * *

On the third floor the quartet was attacked by a blue-skinned, chibi cyclops mage that was clothed in red-orange robes and matching witch hat, and a simple yellow bat that resembled the ones Alice had seen in the Hexagon and the rubble of Brigadoom. Not that it mattered; they were quickly disposed of, and they were rewarded with a vial of magic water, much to the delight of Sheila, who was running low on magic. The monsters were surprisingly tough in this tower, and the older girls couldn't help but wonder if perhaps they were not well-equipped. They looked at Alice, who was wearing a _fur poncho_, for pete's sake. Cloth: not all that durable against vicious monster attacks.

Iris frowned, "...We will have to get some new equipment in the next town we reach. Port Llaffan, was it?"

Marine sighed, "Yeah, but... well, it could be worse."

"How?"

"We could be walking into a huge fight, even though we're not prepared at all. Good thing we're not, huh?" Marine laughed as they caught up with Sheila and Alice, who had been experiencing difficulty with an armored knight (slime free!). Iris shrugged, giving in to Marine's ominous logic.

* * *

At last, after several hours of fighting their way through hoards of monsters, they reached the top of the Tower of Trades. The sky was now dark, and stars filled the sky, almost as though they were spectators at an arena. There were candles lit near the northern-most part of the roof's wall, illuminating a path of light that led to a floating door in the sky that gave Alice an unsettling feeling. A few feet away from said candles was a plaque. Intrigued, Alice moved forward to read it, the multiple specks of color in her eye sparkling.

_**Do not go lightly into a new vocation, 'ye who would start anew. Once chosen, 'yer new calling will shape the rest of 'ye days.**_

Alice paused, tilting her head while she looked up at the floating door of light. She didn't want to go there, she was absolutely sure that nothing good was going to come from it; but where else could they go? They hadn't spotted the Abbot anywhere in the tower on their way up, so this door was the only logical conclusion on where he had disappeared too. _It doesn't really look like it's something you can return from once you enter._ Alice hummed to herself.

Marine didn't wait, or think rationally at all; she just walked into the blindingly lit door like it was nothing, vanishing from sight. Sheila was about to follow suit, but Iris grabbed the back of her armor, rendering her unable to move.

"No, Sheila. You cannot go and run into that door without thinking this through. Marine may have gone, but she is tough enough to defend herself." Iris scolded Sheila lightly, and then turned to Alice, "Shall we go, Alice?"

Alice blinked, and looked up at the two of them. She hadn't even noticed that Marine was gone; if Marine wasn't here, why were Iris and Sheila staying behind? Alice shrugged it off, "Yeah, sure."

The three of them carefully made their way across the path of light that didn't look like it should be solid, and entered the open doorway. On the inside, it looked like it was an enclosed realm, shaped in a dome, but at the same time it seemed that it could go on for eternity. They were standing on a hexagon-shaped structure, with pink flooring as a base, a smaller beige hexagon in the middle of the flooring, with yellow chains reaching a circle of light in the very center of the room, two candles lit in the front of the smaller hexagon. Marine was standing off to the side, staring at a lone figure in the center of the circle with her arms crossed. She acknowledged the others with a nod of the head; apparently even Marine was smart enough to know not to approach a stranger without backup.

Alice cleared her throat, and quickly made her way to the stranger, who she assumed was the Abbot, eager to get all this over with so she could continue combing through the Protectorate.

"Excuse me, sir..."

* * *

**Mel is slowly going through my files, so it's not instantaneous-beta reading, but... school, y'know? Not much my General can do. It'll get done though.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Argh! So much stuff has been in the way of my updating! Graduations (which, as a violinist, I have to play for), exams, _more _graduations, and staying with my grandmother who has no internet whatsoever! At least my new Etrian Odyssey 4 is here... I love it! *^***

**Anyway, my vacation has started, so writing will be more abundant. Also, yay PMD starts now!**

* * *

The man suddenly threw his arms back, startling the four girls. With his back towards them, he started speaking in a deep, ominous voice. "...Oh Almighty power that commands all trades... O' mysterious force that drives the winds of change all over the world... Come! Come to me n-"

Alice reached forward and continually tapped the man on the shoulder before he could continue on his weird rant. The way the pink, sparkly 'sky' twinkled with a feeling of foreboding did not make her wish to stay here a single moment longer than was absolutely necessary. "Excuse me...!"

"HM?!" The man turned around with such force that it sent Alice back a few steps. His hazy eyes darted around the area, unfocused; it was as if he could not truly see them. "Who DARES to interrupt this most holy ceremony?!"

"We do! Get your ass back to the damn Tower already!" Marine barked, standing at full attention. _This guy is a freak; his beard clearly proves this!_

The man's eyes seemed to clear up, though his aura darkened. "...So your true purpose is to disrupt fate? These fruitless efforts shall be in vain; you are too late! None shall interfere with the will of the heavens! NO ONE!"

The man swished back around, raising his arms to the pink, sparkly heavens, shouting in morbid joy, "The power is ALL MINE NOW! The power of SUPREME GUIDANCE! The wisdom to lead my flock along ONLY THE BRIGHTEST OF PATHS! ONLY THE BEST FOR MY SHEEP! I, Abbot Jack of Alltrades Abbey, hereby implore you, father Almighty, to grant me even MORE power, that I may guide ALL THE LOST SOULS! EVERY SOUL IN THE WORLD SHALL SEEK MY GUIDANCE! FLOW WITHIN ME! ANOINT ME! GRANT ME THE GIFT OF ULTIMATE GUIDANCE AND WISDOM!"

A bright white light flashed from the heavens, even though it was a dark, purple-ish veil that covered the Abbot, blocking him from the view of the bystanders, who were all beginning to think the same thing: _Well, fuck._ Lavender static sparked all over, managing to land small, insignificant shocks on the four. Nothing majorly harmful, but they left an almost unnoticeable cut that somewhat burned. Marine flapped her wrist, having gotten several small shocks on her palm that burned like it had been set on fire, although she was not bleeding at all. Sheila was unaffected, as Iris had taken the blows for her.

"Yes... YES! The ultimate power... I can feel it! LET IT CONSUME MY ENTIRE BEING!" Alice could swear that she was watching the Abbot morphing shape before her very eyes. There was nothing too terribly unusual about this, if the being in question had not been mortal like the Abbot.

Suddenly, there was a smaller, almost weak voice coming from the dome of darkness, "...Wh-What is happening to me...? What have I become?"

The transformed Abbot inside of the dome raised one of his hands(?) to his face, his voice cloaked in disbelief, "...This hideous form... Have I, perhaps... become a monster?

"This... this darkness- no, this... chaotic power- this is not at all what I had wished for..." The dome cleared up, as if winds had blown them away, leaving behind a monstrous-looking Abbot, who was slumped over in shock. Alice watched the ordeal from but a few inches behind him, despite the others warning her to stay farther back. She felt a certain... chord struck deeply within her very soul at the pitiful words of the Abbot.

However, this small moment of sympathy did not last but a second or two.

The Abbot suddenly sprung up, and nodded his head sagely. "...But... perhaps- Yes! Hm hm hm... This power has cleared my mind. I truly see the light now! It is through absolute tyranny and terror that I shall ensure that my charges follow the righteous, newly adopted path of despair! I am no longer to be known as the Jack of Alltrades. From here on out, I shall become Master of Nu'Un! All will learn that they are wise to obey me, or they shall suffer my divine wrath!"

He slowly turned back to the four, and grinned dangerously down at Alice, chuckling darkly. "Well, well, well. What _perfect_ timing. I was just about to go looking for some lower subjects on whom to test the true extents of my newly-found powers of justice. Who better to punish than the ones who dared to try and interrupt the divine ceremony?"

Laughing evilly, the Master of Nu'Un drew back his long tail in preparation. "Will you please allow me to guide you onto the righteous path ordained by the Almighty himself, or... will you suffer the heavy consequences of disobedience?"

Not leaving any chance for the crew to get ready, the Master of Nu'Un clamped one claw down on Alice's head, and a thick stream of blue energy came flowing from Alice's forehead, going straight into the mouth of the monster. Then, quicker than Iris could jump ahead, he flicked his tail to crush into Alice's body, sending her flying to the left of the pentagonal field. Luckily, she did not disappear into the horizon; Alice only smashed into a pillar, effectively breaking it, and slumped to the ground. Sheila rushed over to pull her out, performing on-the-spot first aid. Alice blinked her one eye, and staggered to get up. Marine and Iris, on the other hand, were beyond enraged at the sudden ambush.

Marine stood on standby near the two younger girls, prepared to tank a hit if necessary, while Iris flexed her iron claws, and flung herself onto the Master of Nu'Un, scratching at his eyes in an anger-induced fury. Rather than attack the person who is trying to actively kill him, the Master of Nu'Un turned his attention towards the three background girls. He waved one arm in a circular motion, creating a purple mist that swirled into a tornado. The tornado went haywire and flew at the three, but Marine stood in the way of its path, taking the entire brunt of the attack. By the time the tornado died down, Marine was looking a little worse for wear, but Sheila managed to heal her instantly, being placed directly behind her.

"Stop hanging around, Marine! We can handle ourselves just fine! Get in there and beat him up!" Sheila scolded her older friend, who frowned at the reprimand, but readily complied. Marine jumped to her feet, and threw herself as hard as she could, embedding her lance into the body of her foe. Alice stood there, watching them go at it with a blank stare, before glancing down at her unsheathed sword. _I want to help... but...no! I can do this too!_

Alice shakily withdrew her sword from its sheath, and took a small step forward. The feeling of the sword felt foreign in her right hand, seeing as she had never wielded it like this before, but there was nothing she could do about the matter; it was lucky enough that Alice was ambidextrous. If she had been only left-handed, this would be much worse. _My body can remember the movements on its own; it's only a matter of confidence! I... can do this!_

Alice took another step forward, only to watch Iris to get blue energy get sucked out of her as well. The combined stolen energy of Alice and Iris was then put to use, with the Master of Nu'Un calling forth crackling lightning that struck all of them, sending Marine and Iris crashing backwards simultaneously. Sheila, only slightly wounded because of being the farthest back, tended to the two of them immediately. Iris was looking rather worse for wear, seeming to be exhausted from having the energy sucked right out of her. Alice had an almost infinite supply of energy, being a Celestrian, so she was still standing tall. Alice glared up at her foe, the two of them engaged in a small staring match. It was broken only when Alice managed to move one step forward, and jumped lithely at her foe, slashing at him with reckless abandon. The Master of Nu'Un flicked his wrist, casting a quick buff spell on himself, and cut at Alice with one of the thorns on his hands. Alice, however, would not be deterred so easily. She kept up her attacks, although there was a small stream of blood trickling down her face from the thorny assault. No need to fear, for Sheila still exists! Although she was farther from Alice than she was initially, Sheila had studied long-range healing back at the academy, so this was child's play to her.

Annoyed with how things were going, the Master of Nu'Un cast another tornado spell. However, this time the group knew what was coming, so they were able to prepare themselves for the brunt of the attack better; it barely caused a scratch. Severely irritated, he cast another round of lightning, which was more effective. Nobody can prepare for shocks of nature, obviously. Marine, Alice, and Iris, having metal weapons, got the brunt of the force. Marine jumped back up, and threw herself at the Master of Nu'Un one final time before anyone else could move, and managed to knock the fiend off balance, distracting him from the small figure rapidly coming from behind. Alice lunged for the base of his tail, and chopped it clean off of his body.

The Master of Nu'Un staggered, the equilibrium of his weight ruined from the anchor of his tail. Evil mist evaporated from his body, as more static crackled around his form. "NOOOOOOOOOO! MY POWER! MY GLORIOUS POWER!"

All the evil blasted out of his body, leaving behind the humble Abbot, who collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Alice dug her sword into the ground, thoroughly drained, both emotionally and physically.

_I knew it! I can fight all by myself... although I was only able to do it because she taught me... but nonetheless, I did it!_

Alice glanced down at the body of the Abbot, and blinked incredulously, even resorting to rubbing her semi-bloody fist into her only working eye, just to make sure that the exhaustion wasn't causing her to hallucinate.

Floating almost directly above the Abbot's body was a glowing yellow fruit, that Alice barely managed to recall the name of.

"A...fygg?"


	29. Chapter 29

Alice grinned, picking up the prized, holy object up carefully... and then just shoved it in her bag with reckless abandon. Marine frowned, and raised an eyebrow questioningly at her.

"Isn't that going to squash the fygg?"

Alice shook her head, "Nope. My bag is magical~!" She raised up her hands, and wiggled her fingers.

Marine stared at her blankly, and after several moments, just simply shrugged it off. _The kid's a weirdo anyway, I should be used to this. _"Well, let's get back to the Abbey."

* * *

After dropping the Abbot off with the clergy people, Alice decided to go play around in the dining hall while they waited for the Abbot to wake up. As she was eating some cake (the maid insisted that it was on the house, since they brought back the Abbot), she noticed a man wearing very flamboyant clothes standing in the far corner of the room, just staring at everyone that passed by, murmuring to himself. It was then that Alice took a closer look, and she realized that the man was actually a lost spirit. At that same moment, said spirit noticed her staring at him, and quickly made to approach her before she could walk away.

"Well, well ,well! I've finally found one!" He crouched down, and started poking and prodding Alice all over (but mostly her face). "Yes! I've finally found a gorgeous little up-and-coming minstrel! What's your name, sweetie?"

"A-Awish!" Alice managed to get out, despite having her cheeks pinched continuously. The man let her go, and Alice rubbed her sore cheeks, pouting. "Alice."

"Well then, little Alice. Do you perhaps fancy followin' an old pro like me to the dizzy heights of eternal superstardom?"

"Ummmm... sure... okay!" Alice smiled nervously. She didn't really want to associate with this guy anymore, but it was common knowledge that you shouldn't upset spirits if you can help it.

"Marvelous! Here, take this little number and go model it for me, alright darling? It might be a little too big, but that could be a plus too..." The man muttered to himself as he shoved a (surprisingly solid) bundle of bright clothing into Alice's arms, and pushed her towards the ladies restroom.

. . .

Alice was NOT amused after she had figured out how to put the outfit on. It had seemed like a dress at first, but it was actually a tight, purple top with yellow frills over the revealing chest space, and a long, purple skirt that had several layers, pooling on the floor. It kept falling right off her, since it was CLEARLY made for somebody much older... and who was actually developing... so she picked up an orange sash she found just lying on the counter, and used it to secure the skirt to her tightly. There was also two yellow armbands that fit; one size fits all, apparently. Alice put her black, steel gauntlets back on, and looked at herself in the mirror.

She grimaced, "I look ridiculous."

Alice had barely even taken a single step out of the restroom before she was attacked by her flamboyant 'master', he had picked her up and was twirling her around.

"Lovely! You look absolutely, positively adorable! Everyone will be amazed by how cute you are! The perfect minstrel!...But," The 'master' set her back down, and rubbed his chin in concentration, "...there's something missing... Aha! I've got it! Turn around, dear."

Alice slowly turned around, and slumped her head forward so she wouldn't have to see people looking at her. The 'master' crouched down and tied a ribbon around her neck, with the bow on the back of her neck like you would for a kitten. He stood back up, and patted her on the head.

"Good, good! Now you look truly perfect! Now, my disciple, go! Go and spread the cult all over the land!" The man threw Alice out of the dining hall, and right into Iris's arms. The two of them blinked confusedly at one another, but Iris simply shrugged and brought Alice upstairs, purposely ignoring Alice's new style of clothing.

"Where are we going? Are we leaving already?" Alice kicked her feet lightly, liking the way her skirt flopped about.

"No, the Abbot woke up, and he wants to see us."

* * *

At the sound of the door opening, Marine turned to see Iris walk in carrying Alice, who was wearing... very questionable clothing that Marine knew for a fact that she hadn't ever seen on her before. Not only that, but it was clearly to big for her. Marine wanted to ask about it, but now wasn't the right time, so she saved her questions for later. The Abbot coughed, getting everyone's attention. Iris set Alice down on the ground, and let her waddle over towards where Sheila was sitting at a table, drinking tea with the Abbot.

The Abbot smiled at Alice as she climbed into a seat beside Sheila. "Ah, there you are little one! I must thank you four girls for helping me with my... predicament at the Tower of Trades. I sincerely apologize for the trouble I've put you girls through... I have no idea what kind of spell that strange fruit had over me, but it was clear that it was too powerful for mortals to control! Even though I simply wished for a sign on how to be a better guide for my flock...I acted disgracefully, and even violent. Again, I apologize. Is there anything at all that I may be able to do for you to show my appreciation?"

Marine narrowed her eyes, and grinned creepily. "Well... there **is** something... You **are **the Abbot, correct?"

"...You are correct. What does that have to do with what I'm asking?"

"Well, I'd certainly appreciate it if you could make me a paladin."

* * *

Marine came out of the ladies restroom, covered from head to toe in steel armor. The Abbot had given it to her as a gift, to congratulate her on her new vocation. It didn't make a lick of sense to Marine, but maybe that was just how people operated on this island. Or maybe it was simply a clergy thing. _Free shit is free shit, I guess._

Putting that matter aside, Marine pointed at Alice, who was practically drowning in her purple skirt. "By the way, where the hell did you get that?"

Alice sat up, looked at her skirt dumbly, and shrugged, as if to say "Well how the hell should I know, even though I'm the one wearing it?". "The master downstairs in the bright clothes gave it to me. He said I 'look cute'. Do I?"

The three of them fell silent, not really knowing what to say. Stella flew out, took one look at Alice, and whacked her across the head. "You look like a flappin' idiot! How the flap are you going to fight if you're stumblin' all over yourself every five minutes!"

Alice puffed out her cheeks, and took out her sword. "Fine~! I'll fix it then, you party poopers."

Alice slowly cut the fabric so that the skirt now came 2cm below her knees, and jumped around a little like a little kid. "There, now I can move better!"

Marine rubbed her eyes, exasperated. "Good, now let's get going already. I want to get to the next town before nightfall."

* * *

**I think that Tom Foolery is a pedophile. This is not up for debate.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Even though the game says it's "Porth" Llaffan, I say fuck that. Port all the way!**

**My laptop keeps having mental breakdowns, so that's why I keep missing updates. I have another chapter in the works, Mel is looking it over right now. Should be done soon.  
**

**(*cough*Mel is an asshole *cough*)**

* * *

The crowd near the pier was the first thing that the group noticed upon entering the small port town. It was only a few hours after noon, which is still working hours for fishermen, and yet there were people of all ages crowding the beach. As they stood near the entrance, staring at the crowd, an old man shambled up towards them.

"Well, well, mooer travvelers, I see? Welcome to Port Llaffan, you young'uns! You four are in for a treat! Hurry up down to the beach now." Alice inwardly snorted at how little sense that statement made, but being the curious cat, she skipped ahead of the others and pushed her way to the front.

Marine didn't even bother to get angry over it, she just slowly made her way to the docks, where there was a clear view of what was going on down at the beach (why didn't the locals think of doing this?), with Sheila and Iris tagging along. All that she saw was a young girl with peach-colored hair in pigtails, probably around Erinn's age, standing at the edge of the water, her feet barely touching the water. The bells of the church chimed noisily, signaling the excited chatter of the crowd to stop as the girl took a step closer to the water.

Alice heard one of the children behind her whisper, "Oooh! She's startin'!"

The girl slowly walked into the water until it reached her hip, and kneeled down with her head bowed in concentration. "O mighty Lleviathan! Please rise up from the depths of the sea and bless us with Youer presence...! Lend us Youer power, and shower the gifts of the mighty oceans upon we, the humble folk of Port Llaffan."

Without warning, the ground began to tremor with extreme vigor, but none of the people around her seemed to register it, so Alice placed this under the 'Weird mortal customs' folder. Stella popped out, looking eagerly at the girl in the water, who remained stern in her concentration.

"Ooh~ what's all this clamor about? Sounds juicy~!"

Marine looked away from Alice for just a moment to glance out at the water to see if the girl was okay, and nearly fell into the water herself. "Holy shit-"

Iris and Sheila followed their companions gaze out into the water, and were shocked as well when they spotted a large creature rise near the surface, but still staying submerged. The eyes of the creature were large and ominous

One of the townsfolk pointed at the creature, and yelled excitedly, "Look! It's Lleviathan!"

Right after stating the obvious, a large tail came to the surface, and smacked the water with tremendous force, sending a shower of water unto the crowd. Alice stood there, soaking wet, as Stella raged beside her. It seemed that water was not all that fell from the sky, because the crowd suddenly pushed to the front, clamoring loudly over what Alice saw was just some fish. _Sure, this is a LOT of fish, but it's just fish! And who would willingly stand there for their clothes to get ruined?! Mortals are weird!_

The crowd cheered praises for Lleviathan and for the girl, whose name was 'Jona'. They cheered, praised, and jumped around like idiots as a fabulous faerie seethed over this 'cruel treatment'.

"Look at me! I'm fl-fl-flappin' soaked! Why the flap would that old man not give newcomers a word of warning before they're attacked by all the creatures of the ocean?!" Calming down, Stella managed to think rationally. "...So, what in the world was that humongous great big thing anyway? And why does it allow itself to be bossed around by a little girl? I know I'd never allow that! It's degrading!"

Alice watched her rant silently, and managed to only grin in response to that statement. _And yet here you are, following around a 'little girl'. Ah... but putting Stella's opinions aside, this does seem rather... fishy._

After people split up the fish, they quickly dispersed, going back to wherever they came from. Nobody even said a word of thanks to Jona, who seemed to be the one causing it. Alice shrugged it off, and waited for her companions to quickly approach the soggy mess that she is.

"Oh, Alice! You're soaking wet!" Sheila frowned, picking her up, watching as a seemingly endless supply of water dripped from her clothes. "We were lucky enough to not be in the 'hit zone', but you could get a cold..."

Marine snorted, "She'll be fine. I doubt Celestrians can even _get_ colds."

"We don't know that for certain though, Marine. You go take her clothes shopping, since we need new armor anyway." Iris silently conveyed her true message: _QUICK, GET HER OUT OF THAT ABOMINATION_. Luckily, Marine was good at reading Iris's mind from the years of friendship. Marine took Alice captive and ran off before Alice could figure anything out.

Iris watched them get away, and turned to Sheila, opening her mouth to speak, when they were interrupted by the girl from earlier.

"E-Excuse me... youer travelers, aren't you?" Sheila nodded, causing the young girl to light up. "Oh, wonderful! If it wouldn't trouble you, would you and youer companions please come to my house this evenin' for dinner? Um, I live in the little abode to the east of the inn. I'm shooer youell find it, it's not hard to spot. There's... somethin' I'd like to ask for youer opinion on."

Sheila smiled, "Oh, sure! We'll be there around sunset, then!"

Jona gave Sheila and Iris (who had been silent the entire time) a grateful bow, and went off on her merry way. Sheila watched her leave, and turned to Iris when Jona was out of sight.

"So, what were you going to say?" Sheila tilted her head, smiling up at Iris, who merely grimaced.

"...I was going to ask if you wanted to go get something for the four of us to eat. Preferably not fish, though."

"What? Why not?" Sheila frowned slightly.

"...A-Alice didn't seem like she appreciated being covered in that ocean water, so she might have a minor grudge against the fish now."

Sheila grinned, "Oh, that makes sense! Okay, then let's just use a chimera wing to get some food from Erinn! I want some of Auntie's cooking, and Erinn might like to know how Alice is doing, hm?"

Iris sighed, and complied with her younger friend's wishes. _So much for getting rid of company._

* * *

Marine growled in frustration. Not only did there not seem to be ANY modest clothing for children (children!), but Alice had managed to escape in another stupid dress. For some god-only-knows reason, they had small versions of "dancer's" dresses for children. It had a white torso, with a blazing red skirt that had orange on the rim. Alice had really taken to it, and had put it on and ran off.

_At least it didn't have that heart-shaped cut in the chest area... Alice doesn't have anything there... but still._ Marine cringed at the thought of what Iris might do to her when she came back Alice-less.

_I guess I'll keep looking around...!_

* * *

Alice snickered at the face Marine had made when she had been adamant about buying the strips of fabric. _This thing can't even be called a dress_. She snorted at the red and white contraption, and threw it in the trash. Alice had managed to dry her colorful dress by blowing a small flame above it, and had quickly changed into it. Sure, the dress was still a tad bit wet, but it was better than nothing.

Now, however, Alice was hiding out in the church so that Marine wouldn't be able to find her. As she walked down the aisles, her footsteps echoing throughout the building, Alice couldn't help but shudder at how empty it was. There was only her, and the priest that stood at the altar, looking down with his eyes closed. _Is he... sleeping?_

Alice silently made her way over to the altar, peered up at the face of the priest, and froze. On the cheek of the priest was a faded, sword-shaped tattoo, which managed to send Alice into a fit of shivering.

_Are you kidding me- the Arenian tribe's survival is one thing, but __**these**__ guys are still in existence?! If their ancestors have managed to hand down any of their knowledge... then I am in big, big trouble._ Another shudder went down her spine as Alice felt the walls close in on her, confining her into a small box. _I-I have to get out of here!_

Alice spun around on her heels to escape, only to run right into a loop of rope that had just been left on the ground, effectively capturing Alice by the ankle. In her moment of panic, Alice momentarily considered chewing her leg off to ensure her survival, only to cease that line of thought when she heard a familiar evil laugh.

"Finally! You were hiding here, huh?" Alice felt herself get lifted up by the rope on her ankle, and stared into the ocean blue eyes of Marine, who smirked smugly at her. "Well, at least you're not wearing that hooker outfit anymore. I guess this technicolor mess is better than that... but you're the one who's going to deal with Iris, not me!"

* * *

**Also, the song "Orange" by 96neko could really be the themesong for this story. If you want a link I can PM it to you.**

**Quote from when we were exchanging this document:**

**[3:18:09 PM] Mel Strider: HI KAT  
[3:19:33 PM] Mel Strider: why is it porth  
[3:22:54 PM] Mel Strider: TADA  
[3:23:02 PM] Prince Kat: hi  
[3:23:06 PM] *** Mel Strider sent Alice chapter 30 (edit).rtf ***  
[3:23:26 PM] Mel Strider: short chapter, but few errors. good job  
[3:23:34 PM] Prince Kat: Lol what's porth  
[3:23:39 PM] Prince Kat: yess go me  
[3:23:56 PM] Mel Strider: nvm  
[3:24:11 PM] Mel Strider: I said "Fuck it these people have weird dialog anyway"**


	31. Chapter 31

**I love all the poor english these people speak.**

**Mel hates it. xD**

* * *

When Iris and Sheila returned, there was much scolding all around. For Alice, it was because she had wasted money and ran off. Marine had been stupid and had allowed Alice to slip away in the first place. Sheila had volunteered the group to go to a stranger's house without consent of the other three, and Iris had brought up getting non-fish food, which made them leave town for hours. After that was settled, the four of them made their way down to Jona's, because Sheila had already told Jona they'd be there, and it'd be rude to not show up (words of Iris).

Before they left, though, Marine handed Sheila a bundle of clothes. Sheila unwrapped it, and stared at the red and yellow robe that was tied together at the top, and had little gold stars outlining the outfit. On top of that was a pair of blue shorts with knee-length socks, and...

"M-Marine!" Sheila squeaked in embarrassment. "W-What am I supposed to do with these?!"

"You wear them." Marine snickered, and placed the cat ears on top of Sheila's head. After that, she forced Sheila to go get changed into her new outfit. Iris stood beside Marine, looking at her with suspicion.

"...Marine, what are you up to?"

"What? Me? I haven't done anything!"

"...Hmmm." Iris glared at her for a few minutes, and turned her head to the side when Sheila came back to them. Alice and Marine broke into a fit of giggles on the side.

"Y-You look adorable, Sheila!" Marine managed to speak between giggles. Alice wasn't able to, so she just gave Sheila a thumbs up.

Sheila hung her head, somewhat embarrassed by her outfit. Iris covered her face and walked away briskly towards Jona's house, ignoring the three of them.

* * *

When the four of them arrived at Jona's, who lived in a small cabin with a fire roaring INSIDE of the cabin, there were numerous fish rolling on a stick, being roasted for eating. Alice grimaced at the sight of fish. _Guess I won't be eating dinner. Not that I even need food in the first place..._

As the four other girls ate merrily, Alice gazed deeply into the fire, entranced by how the flames leapt out at her. Around her, the 'older' girls discussed things.

"So, youer all travelers?" Jona smiled at her guests, making idle chitchat. "I mean, youer not from the island, are you?"

Marine waved a hand nonchalantly, "No, no. We came here from Stornway. Alice there is from... Angel Falls." And then promptly started to laugh for seemingly no reason, almost choking on her fish.

"...Is she okay?" Jona looked worriedly at Marine, hoping that there wouldn't be a death in her cabin tonight.

Iris pushed Marine out of her seat, "Yes, yes. Do not worry, Miss Jona, Marine will be fine. Now, what was it that you wished to ask us?"

"Oh, yes! I'm ever so glad you folk came along. I've been waitin' for someone who ain't from this island to come along. It's... a matter of morals-"

"Jona! You in, dab?" A voice came from the outside, cutting off Jona's train of thought. She looked towards the door, frowning slightly. A man with braided black hair came inside (without knocking, mind you), and looked at the group of them in surprise. Alice blinked at the distraction, blurry spots dancing across her vision.

"O-Oh! I didn't know you had comp'ny..." He raised an eyebrow at Marine, who had passed out on the floor, but ignored her otherwise, since nobody seemed to be worried. "Er, I've not ever seen youer faces around here. Huh. Anyhow... Jona, Mayor Bryce wants a word with you. You'd best come along now, dab."

With that, Jona was dragged out of the cabin without another word. Alice frowned at the forced removal of their host, and hopped off her seat, making her way towards the door.

"Alice? Where are you going?" Sheila blinked at Alice passed by her.

"I'm going to get Jona. She didn't look too good. Besides, she had a question on morals, didn't she? Nobody has better morals than me!" Sheila shrugged, allowing Alice to leave, and turned back to Iris.

"Guess its just you'n'me, Iris!" Iris stared blankly at Sheila's beaming face.

_Alice, please come back soon. Or may Marine come back to life sometime in the future. Maybe we should bury her._

* * *

Alice walked along the beach, and spotted a ghost of a nice, young lady who was wearing similar clothes to the dress Alice had rejected earlier, along with a long, red veil that dancers wear to flutter in the breeze. The lady turned around to see Alice staring at her, and smiled.

"Oh, can you see me? Wonderful... listen, can you do something for me, child? You see, the townsfolk are all wrong... that _thing_ they're summoning isn't my dear Lleviathan at all! That pooer Jona... she's bein' used by somethin'. Bein' controlled, like. Would you mind looking out for her? Youer the only person I can ask, seein' as I appear to have kicked the bucket. Somethin' bad's brewin', you hear? Be careful, child."

Alice took the words in stride, and continued on her way to where she assumed the mayor's house was (mortal logic: biggest house is for the most important person). Alice slipped inside, only to see the very man from before, along with a large, bulkier man who was wearing some kind of circular hat. Luckily, they seemed to be playing a game of poker, so they were distracted for the moment.

Alice made her way around them, and trotted down a corridor, halting outside an open door when she heard a voice boom. "Jona, it's been a tidy old while now since Dylan went missin' in that last storm. I'm sorry for you deep within my heart, bach, I truly am, but you have to realize that it's hopeless to go on believin' he's alive. He's not goin' to come back, Jona."

Alice peeked into the room to see an old guy, presumably the mayor, on one side of a table with a younger kid beside him (his son, Alice assumed), the boy seeming to be just a year or two younger than Jona. On the other side of the table, of course, was Jona, her head hanging low.

"...And that's why I've decided I'll afto adopt you afterall." The son turned to his father, seeming to be surprised.

"W-What?!" The boy's mind wheeled through a train of thought, and finally came upon the decision that this is a good thing. "Th-That's fantastic, isn't it, Jona? You don't have to be all alone now!"

The mayor nodded, "You and my young Bryson here get on alright, and I've always thought of you as my own daughter, anyway. You've been brave on youer own for long enough, bach. Now's the time to let go and move forward."

Jona looked up from her stance of shame, and looked defiantly at the man. "...Thank you, Mayor. I-I'll be shooer to give it some thought... but, erm... since I'm here, there's somethin' I was hopin' to talk to you about..."

"Oh? What is it, bach?"

"...It's just... I've been thinkin'... and I decided that I shouldn't summon Lleviathan anymore."

The mayor flipped out at this, "Wh-But-! Jona!"

"I-It's just that I don't feel like this is right, livin' like this. Dependin' on Lleviathan to bring us our fish. So, I-"

"Don't start spoutin' nonsense like that! Have you gone daft, Jona?! No one in the village wants to hear this! Brazen! Traitorous, this is! And anyway, what else have you got to offer Port Llaffan? I don't see any other way you could help out here."

"Well... I might not have anything right now, but I could learn...!" The mayor knocked that aside.

"Never mind, I think that enough has been said for now. You must be tired, bach. Take youerself home, and have a good rest, alright? We'll talk more tomorrow."

Jona slowly looked up at the mayor, whose eyes seemed to be glazed over in greed. She sighed, and exited the room, bumping right into Alice. Jona glanced down at her in surprise.

"Oh, it's you! Alice, right?... I suppose you overheard all that chatter, didn't you? Well, no matter. It's probably better that you did. Youer coming back with me to my place so we can finish our chat, aren't you?"

Alice smiled, and took Jona by the hand, leading her back to her place. All the while, Alice's thoughts couldn't help but swerve elsewhere.

_"With this, we'll become father and daughter. I'll be able to teach you all sorts of things." _

_"Dis is easy! A little of dis and a little of dat, and 'da three o' us will be together fo'ever! 'Till the day w'part, 'da three o' us will go through 'da thickest o' thin! Wat'dya say, Alice?" Alice saw the overly large grin that normally adorned her face, and felt her face heat up._

_"Y-yeah...!"_


	32. Chapter 32

**There's a lot been going on this past week, but hopefully next time I'll get farther. I don't know if you'll notice, but I don't really like Jona.**

* * *

When they returned, Jona went back to her guests, and started talking about how the town had gotten too lazy because of Lleviathan. Alice, not being one for politics, just simply made a clothes-bed out of all the different clothes she had stored in her bag, and went to sleep.

Marine glanced at the snoring blonde, before turning back to the matter at hand. "So you've just been wondering if how your town is bat shit crazy or not?"

Jona blinked, surprised. "...Err, well, yes. It's... wrong, livin' like we are, 'innit? Nobody is doin' anything to move forward, they're all just standin' 'round 'till it's prayer time."

Sheila hummed, scratching her head. "...I guess so? If you want to be realistic, this shouldn't be happening. A being as powerful as Lleviathan shouldn't be some errand boy."

Iris frowned, "Indeed. This cannot be natural; you should stop doing this while you still can, child."

"Oh, good, so I'm not the only one who thinks like this." Jona's eyes sparkled with determination, "Alright! I'm full o' strength now! I'm goin' to give Mayor Bryce a piece o' my mind! I'm not goin' to be callin' Lleviathan no more!"

Alice's snores finally seemed to have caught Jona's attention, because she broke out of her trance-like state. She turned to look at Alice's sleeping form, and gasped.

"Oh dear! Is it that late already? It seems I've been spoutin' so many words, that it's got ever so late out! Do you folks have a place to stay?"

Iris stood up, dusting off her pants. "Yes, the inn is always watching, after all. However... I hope you do not mind if we leave Alice here. She appears to be quite comfortable."

Jona giggled softly, "It's no problem at all! The least I can do for 'ya."

* * *

Alice was surprised upon waking up, and finding that she was now the only one inside of the house. She looked around, but Jona was nowhere to be seen. The bed was neatly made, the fire extinguished, and fish were refrigerated inside an ice bucket. Alice sat up, the clothes falling around her, and scratched her head confusedly.

Stella then took this miraculous timing to smack her upside the head. "Oi! Get up, you flappin' dunce!"

"...Haa?" Alice yawned, earning another smack.

"It's almost noon, how much longer are you going to sleep?"

"...All day, if I could." Alice mumbled, rubbing her eyes. She stood up quickly before Stella could smack her again, and gathered her pile of clothes, putting them back into her bag. Alice then stretched her back until she felt a few muscles pop into place, and smiled. "Okay, now... where'd everybody go?"

"Well, the girls are stayin' at the inn. Yeah, they left you here, no big deal. Jona, on the other hand, went to confront that mayor guy. Maybe we should check up on her, she seemed pretty heated up."

Alice shrugged, "I suppose so."

* * *

Alice approached the mayor's house that she had been to just yesterday. On the way there, she had heard from several other villagers that Jona is apparently missing, and one guy even tipped her off that the mayor has a "private beach for fishing". _Considering his attitude yesterday when she tried quitting, I wouldn't be surprised if he dragged her off in his power-high._

As Alice stood there in front of the doorway, Marine and the others had managed to make their way over to her (Stella had led Sheila there). Before they could say anything to the girl, the front door opened abruptly, smacking Alice directly in the face and knocking her onto her butt. Behind the door was none other than Bryson, the mayor's son that Alice vaguely recalled having seen yesterday when she had broken into the mayor's house to bring Jona back.

"I'm sorry!... Oh hey, it's you! Didn't I see you leave with Jona yesterday? Anyhow, Jona came by here again, and told Dad she didn't want to call Lleviathan any more, but for real this time! I've never seen Dad look so angry before! His face was almost purple! He got her good, and dragged her off to the Cuddiedig Cliff. You can reach it by the big gate behind my house. I'll go unlock the door for you!"

Alice blinked, watching him as he ran off. _...What in the hell was that? Was I just drafted?_

Marine rolled her eyes, and picked Alice up by the arms. "C'mon, let's go."

They walked around the house at their leisure, and sure enough, Bryson was standing in front of a tall gate that blocked anyone from getting passed. He turned to them upon hearing their footsteps, hopping back in forth nervously.

"I-I've got a terribly bad feelin' 'bout all this. Sorry for droppin' all this on you, but please help Jona out!" He unlocked the gate and ran off to god knows where. Marine nodded at the kid, feeling bad for him. Bryson kind of reminded her of her own little brother, wherever he ended up. _Probably dead. Our clansmen don't normally live past the test you take at thirteen._

The group beat the shit out of any and all monsters they ran across, until they reached a cave. Not just any cave, but a cave that seemed to lead you onto a path that would let you scale the cliffs.

Alice grimaced, groaning at her wonderful luck. "A cave, how fucking wonderful. I **hate** caves. I **fucking hate** caves."

Sheila laughed, and smacked Alice on the shoulder in a friendly manner. "Silly Alice! Haven't you already gone through like, three ruins of varying space?"

"That's way different than a goddamn cave! Large, creepy piece of historical shit that's falling apart as we speak? Fine, I'd take those any day! I absolutely, do NOT want to go inside this friggin' cave. I'm claustrophobic! Even if this cave is as spacious as the Observatory, I'm not going in. I'll be scaling up this here cliff; have fun."

Alice took out a pair of sticky gloves and started climbing the walls, though she kept falling back down every couple of feet. Marine stared at her for a while, amused at the developments. Iris and Sheila, on the other hand, had long since just simply entered the cave, making their way to the top, leaving Marine in the dust. Marine, upon realizing this, almost screamed at Alice for taking her attention away from what's important, but by that time Alice was already halfway up the cliff. Therefore, Marine had to haul ass to catch up with her friends, and was not at all pleased.


	33. Chapter 33

After what seemed like hours (but was only thirty to forty minutes), Alice finally crawled onto a boulder that sat at the top of the cliff. She splayed herself all across the rocky surface, exhausted from all the climbing. At one point, a chimaera had suddenly decided to try and abduct Alice right off the cliff to feed to its babies. Luckily, one good jab in the eye with her sword got that settled with. Alice had watched as the chimaera squawked, and fell to the ground (coincidentally, it was the very spot where her fellows were just about to walk into. Marine had shaken her fist at Alice, enraged that the bloody bird had landed right on her shoes. It's not like Alice had managed to get away unscathed either; she now sported a nasty claw-induced cut from just below her right eye all the way down to her jawline.

As she layed there, waiting for her companions to catch up, she reached a hand up to wipe off the blood and see how bad it was. She held her hand up to her face to see that it was stained by blood. _Ah... without Sheila's immediate healing, it'll probably leave a scar... Damn. I'd rather not have a single mark on our skin, if only because she'll suffer just like me. (Sigh)_

"What are you doing? That does not look sanitary." Alice looked up to see Iris towering over her, looking slightly amused from the sight.

"...I was waiting. Where are the others?"

"Oh, that chimaera body attracted other predators, so Marine got sidetracked fighting them. Sheila stayed back to make sure she does not get horribly injured." Iris paused, and pulled out a small piece of cloth from her pocket, motioning for Alice to sit up properly. Iris licked the cloth and gently dabbed at the bloody cut. "Well, I do not see the mayor or Miss Jona, so perhaps we should wait for the girls before we continue searching."

Alice shrugged, not really concerned. _After all, what kind of cliff could be called a fishing spot?_

* * *

"Gee, thanks a bunch for leaving all that work to us, Iris! Really fucking appreciate it!" Marine scowled at said friend as she and Sheila passed the two of them, with Marine looking rather worse for wear, despite not having a single scratch.

"Anytime, Marine." Iris smiled brightly, following after them. Alice rolled her eye and trailed after them.

It only took a little walk in silence for them to reach the edge of the cliff, and they spotted four people standing; two all the way at the edge, and the other two standing about ten feet away from them, just watching. Of course, the two people by the edge are Jona and the mayor. They sneak closer to listen to what is going down.

The mayor gestures towards the vast ocean before them, "Isn't it beautiful, love? Fancy a little chat here to clear youer head?"

Jona looked down, not responding. The mayor placed his hand gently onto her shoulder. "You pooer thing. It must be awfully tirin' to perform the summonin' ev'ryday like they've been makin' 'ya. Well, I just wanted 'ya to know that if you truely want to stop, youer Uncle Bryce here will put a stop to the summonin' tomorrow, alright? I'll just tell ev'ryone that you've lost the power to call Lleviathan."

Jona looked up at him, her eyes shining from awed tears, "...Mayor... I-"

"And, if youer ever feelin' up to it, we can pop here once in a while, and the two of us can have a little summonin', just between the two of us. Out here, there's all kinds of coral and pearls and all kinds at the bottom of this here ocean, see? Not to mention all the ships that crash here, with their treasures sinkin' to the bottom. You wouldn't mind askin' ol' Lleviathan to bring up some of those for you now, would you? Much better than plain ol' borin' fish, hm?"

Jona flinched, wrenching her arm away from him. "What...?! Pearls? Treasure?! Heaven Almighty- I can't believe what I'm hearin'! Youer out of youer mind!"

Mayor Bryce hovered around her, "Now, don't get all heated up, dear. I said only when youer feelin' up to it, you see? Only if you wanted ev'ryone to be so much happier than we are now. Y'know? All rich and content?"

"...Rich? Wh...What?"

"That's right, bach. To get that high life, all you have to do is accept that youer father is never comin' home and just let me adopt you. Easy, right? I'll be youer new father, and we'll live a right tidy life." The mayor reached an arm out to her.

Jona shrieked and smacked his hand away. "No! Youer not my father, and you never will be for as long as I live! My father-"

Alice couldn't hear the rest of her sentence, because just then a large creature came out of the water, and flew onto the cliff; startling the two on the cliff so much that they fell over. It was a gigantic, indigo colored whale with a red underbelly. It had bright yellow irises, encircled by dark indigo eyelids. The whale opened it's mouth with a roar, almost scowling, showing off its giant, pointed teeth. Attached to it were several silverish wings sticking out haphazardly; also, it seemed to have horns. The mayor threw himself onto his knees, bowing/worshiping the large creature.

"O Mighty Lleviathan! Thank you for hearing ouer callin' for Youer holy help once again!" He glanced at Jona, who was frozen from fear, and glared. "Jona! Show youer respect, bach! Lleviathan has come to help bring us some treasures!"

Not allowing a response, Lleviathan lets out another mighty roarn that sent the mayor flying back five feet, shaking wildly. Jona held her arms in front of her face to protect herself, but it didn't stop Lleviathan from swallowing Jona whole. Everyone in the vicinity jerked back, shocked at the present situation. The mayor even let out a little shriek of horror. Letting out another roar, Lleviathan jumped closer towards the mayor, further onto the cliff. Alice was slightly amazed that the entire thing didn't collapse under its weight.

Alice was beside herself with pent-up rage, and quickly took out her sword, ready for battle. She was not angry that Lleviathan had suddenly appeared (which complicated things slightly), or that it had eaten Jona (also complicating things), or even that the mayor was a money-crazed loon. What really boiled her blood was the conversation that she had witnessed take place. It infuriated her; it was something she had experienced herself numerous times in her life.

_It's always "for the good of others". If you want to "move on", you have to give up the most important thing to you- which completely destroys the purpose of trying to improve yourself! When you "move on", those "others" will turn their backs on you, and then you're alone, without your only comfort in life._

Alice hopped onto the nose of the whale, and stabbed her sword as deep as she could, spewing some of the whale's blood onto her clothes. Alice made a mental note to wash her clothes later. Luckily, she won't have to, because as a knee-jerk reaction, Lleviathan summoned a powerful tidal wave to crash onto the cliff, almost knocking her off of the large whale, if it weren't for the sword that was acting as her anchor. The same could be said for the others, who had each grabbed one of the bystanders (including the mayor- even though he sucks) and either stuck their weapon in the ground (Marine), or hid behind a rock (Sheila and Iris). Marine grit her teeth, threw the mayor towards where the other citizens were, and flew into battle, with Iris and Sheila following quickly, but were stopped when Alice's body glowed a bright blue, and let out a frustrated scream, cutting numerous large, gaping wounds on its body. After a while, Lleviathan let out a piercing wail and collapsed on its side.

Alice stared at it with narrowed eyes, wondering why it just suddenly kicked the bucket. _Did it finally realize that cliffs don't have a steady source of water?_

Not being one to wait, Alice pried its mouth open wider, and walked inside, much to the horror of everyone. After a good ten minutes, Alice walked back out, leading Jona out by the hand. Sheila flailed her arms, checking for injuries on Jona's person. Marine, on the other hand, smacked Alice upside the head for being stupid and acting on mere impulses.

"O-Oh, I'm f-fine! I'm more worried about Alice... you didn't hurt youerself, did you?" Alice looked over to Jona, and waved her concern away, which only made it worse. Jona started to quickly advanced towards Alice, when the eyes of Lleviathan shone like a beacon. Somehow it revived itself, and stood up before tryingto take another bite out of Jona. Sheila pulled the stunned Jona out of the way just in time for Lleviathan to snap at only the air, just barely missing the tip of Alice's feather headband. Jona's eyes widened, and she threw herself in front of Alice when she saw Lleviathan get ready to just eat Alice as an appetizer.

"N-No! Please don't hurt her! She's done nothing wrong!"

Lleviathan snorted, but closed its mouth. Everything seemed alright for the moment, until they heard a voice come from it.

"In't she one of Mayor Bryce's lackeys?" It was an unfamiliar voice to Alice, but Jona seemed to know it perfectly well.

"...Y-Youer voice...!" A bright light formed at the base of Lleviathan's head, revealing a man in his late thirties with straight brown hair, blue eyes, and a scraggly beard. "...Father?"

Alice grit her teeth and turned away, covering her ears to block out the voices.

She doesn't want to hear the two of them reunite.

She doesn't want to see the happy tears streaming down Jona's face from relief.

She doesn't want to watch as the two of them are torn apart from her father having to pass on to the afterlife after just reuniting with his worried daughter.

She doesn't want to.

_Go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away go away __**GO AWAY**__._

_I don't want to be forced to see him!_

_I don't want to be forced to think of him! Remember him! Feel him! Smell him!_

_I DON'T WANT IT I DON'T WANT IT I DON'T WANT IT I DON'T WANT IT-_

* * *

**This was FINALLY completed at 3 a.m., so I am fucking exhausted. Why do I keep losing track of time? It was 1 in the afternoon, and then suddenly 3 a.m.! Fuck. **

**I felt really stupid halfway through this, because I FINALLY got the implication of "Jonah and the Whale". Wow, I'm such an idiot for not getting that the other times I've played this. I really hate Port Llaffan.**


End file.
